Keys and Crosses
by Draconai
Summary: Not everyone falls for a vampire - but Kairi Chikai, desperate to avoid the insults, may not have a choice! When she transfers to Yokai Academy and finds herself at a school for monsters, only a hold on locked-down vampire Sora Kingdom may keep her alive! Werewolves? Check. Witches? Yep. Triangle on your bloodsucker? Just vunderful... AU, monsters and setting from Rosario Vampire.
1. Arrival At Yokai

Draco: **NEW EDIT: **The cover image displayed is cropped due to size limitations. Those who wish to see the full image, please remove all getaround markup and copypaste this into your URL bar: h*t*t*p*:*/*/ sorasprincesss . deviantart / art / Keys - And - Crosses - 3*8*1*8*7*1*4*3*0 **END NEW EDIT**

Anyways, I'm going to go at a bit of a gamble and say this isn't _quite_ a crossover because it is simply location, not characters. Anyone who likes Rosario+Vampire and Kingdom Hearts (guilty as charged) is going to love this. On terms of the relationships... SoKai, RiKai, light SoNami, RokuShi, RokuNami, Larxel, and (as promised, Guggi) SoXion. And no, this won't be a mainstream-esque love web, a- _most_ of the triangles are going to disperse sooner or later until we have a RokuNami, a SoKai or RiKai, and a SoXion.

I am way too lazy to have come up with that many characters and I would _never_ knowingly produce a love web _that_ sticky. Kingdom Hearts copyright Disney and Square Enix. Rosario+Vampire copyright Akihisa Ikeda. Additional Final Fantasy characters copyright Square Enix.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Arrival At Yokai**

It wasn't that she was horrible at her studies, or that she was too lazy to do the work. She wasn't emotionally unstable, or quick to anger. But the amount of torment that her peers had landed on her, both physically and verbally, had pushed fifteen-year-old Kairi Chikai to request - plead, if you will - that her parents send her to another school this year.

And now, here she was, bags at her side, the only one on a bus to Yokai Academy, an easy-to-apply private school. Kairi hadn't heard of the name before, but that didn't mean much - she wasn't too attentive to many things outside of what she had to do _now_ and what she had to do _before then._

As the vehichle entered a tunnel, she heard the bus driver call to her.

"So, you will be going to Yokai Academy, correct?"

His voice was kind of slow, almost emotionless. Kairi pulled her gaze away from the window to look towards him. His silver hair was kind of a veil around his face, so she couldn't see him too well. He did, however, wear what appeared to be a uniform black cloak. "Yeah," she replied, delayed. "Figured a new crowd might do me some good."

"I should hope your old crowd won't miss you."

Kairi was taken aback by that. "Sorry?" she prompted. "What do you mean by that?"

"Once the darkness of this tunnel has left us, what you will see is Yokai Academy."

He turned towards her, and she saw his eyes were a bright gold.

"And consider yourself lucky... if it is not the last thing you see."

+x+x+x+

The tunnel emerged at an oceanside cliff road. The driver brought the vehichle to a swift stop near a leafless tree, and Kairi, in something of a state of shock, picked up her bags, got to her feet, and stepped off the bus.

"Watch your back."

With those ominous words, the driver closed the bus door, followed the road into something of a U-turn, and took his vehichle and his enigmatic self away.

As though on cue, a tear of lightning ripped across the sky, illuminating the most ominous structure Kairi had ever seen.

Kairi nearly screamed, but she managed to stop herself. "It's okay," she said to no one. "It's alright. He's just trying to scare me. He's probably paid to know those lines. This school might look creepy, but that's no reason to assume..."

"...of the way! Out of the way! Out of the way!"

The crimson-haired girl spun to see the most horrifying sight - a motorcycle was screaming right towards her, with its driver - a boy about her age with spiky brown hair - shouting over the nearly inaudible engine, scrambling around the controls without control of his vehichle.

Kairi screamed, paralyzed, causing the driver to raise his gaze.

For the briefest of moments, she could see his eyes, the colour of a cloudless sky.

Then something in the driver changed. His gaze narrowed, and with impossible dexterity he slammed his feet against the back wheel drum. He shot forward, his hands palming against the hood of the motorcycle, and he pulled himself over the weapon, flying through the air as though to attack Kairi.

Instead, he landed before her and spun back to his bike, raising his hand.

A flare of light surged from his hand, and in that hand formed a shape like a very large skeleton key. Kairi had zero time to observe, though, before he swept the weapon before him. The bike connected with the key and pulled a total frontal flip, arcing through the air and past Kairi, missing her right ear by a hair's breadth, before landing roughly on it's back wheels, whirling into a spin skid, and plummetting over the cliffside.

Kairi and the cyclist were quiet for the longest moment, gazing where the bike had vanished.

Then the boy turned towards Kairi. "Sorry... about that," he insisted. "I'm borrowing my friend's bike and I'm still not used to the steering controls."

"It... It's okay," Kairi insisted. "I... I should have tried to move." She held out her hand. "I'm Kairi. Kairi Chikai. You?"

"Sora Kingdom," he replied, taking Kairi's hand hesitantly. "Are you-"

He came to an abrupt stop mid-sentence, stumbling back as though struck, his hand slipping out of Kairi's like soap. Kairi was taken aback at the way he reached for his helm like he was dizzy. "Is something wrong?"

"It's..." Sora cut himself off with a grunt. "Are you hurt?" he asked.

Kairi winced. "I don't..." She stopped and reached for her shoulder, feeling a sudden, sharp pain as her hand connected with an open wound near her neck. "What..."

Sora reached into his pocket with his free hand. "The tire... It must've... skinned your shoulder..." He cursed, switching to a different pocket. "There were some... bandages in... the bike, why..."

He gasped, cutting himself off, and started to fall forward. Kairi reacted instinctively, catching him with both arms and ignoring the fact that he was now connecting directly with her wound. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Why are you..."

The sudden movement as Sora caught her arms cut her off. "I'm sorry," he murmured into her ear.

Kairi was surprised. "What do you..."

Sora pulled himself off her shoulder just long enough to breathe three words into her ear.

"I'm a vampire."

Then his head fell, and Kairi felt a sudden puncture, a sensation of something being drawn out as Sora bit into her skin.

Kairi gave a faint yelp, but she didn't move - she _couldn't_ move - her body wouldn't obey. Sora pulled away suddenly, the draw fading - and Kairi didn't hesitate to land a massive shove that pushed him away from her, reaching for her neck.

"You..." Kairi gasped. "Did you... You just... You're...!"

"I'm sorry!" Sora insisted. "I tried, but... the scent, it... I shouldn't have, but..."

Kairi didn't let him finish. "_But you're a **vampire**,_" she exclaimed, her body shuddering.

Sora winced. "I'm sorry!" He turned away and took off, towards the structure in the distance.

The crimson-haired girl didn't move for the longest time. Then, slowly, she reached towards the wound where the motorbike had ripped into her skin.

_The wound's gone_...

+x+x+x+

Kairi would have liked to believe that nearly being runover and subsequently having blood sucked out of her was the weirdest thing to happen that day. Indeed, for a moment, she _did_ believe it.

And one could not blame her.

She made her way to the school to hear a bell going off. Under the rather understandable impression that she may be late for class, Kairi quickly located a map on the wall and a pamphlet in her backpack that told her where she needed to go. She showed up in the classroom to find it crowded with students already and found an empty seat just as another bell went off.

A sigh escaped her lips as the teacher got to his feet. He looked like something of a ladies man - hair that was at once tidy and untidy, a leather jacket lined with white fur - and the scar that crossed between his eyes did little, if anything, to hinder the impression. As he cleared his throat with a light cough, Kairi caught sight of a curious figure on the wall above - it looked like a sword, but the hilt and handle were formed from an oversized revolver.

"Welcome, freshman class," the teacher called. "I'm your homeroom teacher, Squall Leonheart. Leon will suffice if you happen to be forgetful. Now, down to business." He set his hands against his desk. "Yokai Academy - the name speaks for itself." His gaze raised.

"Welcome to a school for monsters."

Kairi started suddenly. Though most of the class - including Professor Leonheart - didn't notice, some of the nearer students did, causing Kairi to look around, not only to take a good look at her classmates but to cover as though someone had kicked her forward. Figure her luck to have chosen the seat in front of the only empty desk.

Professor Leonheart was speaking again. "As you all know," the teacher stated, "our world is yet run by the human kind. Without other choice, we must live within that society - peacefully, carefully. Yokai is here to help you with that.

"And so, first rule of the academy: you will retain human appearance at all times. Understood?"

His gaze swept from left to right, seeking anyone who might object. Kairi tried to act inconspicuous, but her breathing was heavy, and her mind and lungs were running a marathon against each other. Her mind was winning.

_Monsters. **Monsters.** He's kidding, right? This is all some huge prank. Right? **Right?**_

"You see, there's nothing more crucial to life within a society of humans than the implication that we are the same." Professor Leonheart must have seen some shifty looks. "You will reveal yourselves to no one - not your teachers, and _not_ your classmates."

A voice from nearby interrupted him. "Can I get an answer?" Everyone turned - including Kairi, though only her gaze - to see the questioneer was a figure who looked kind of dark. He had black leather garments that looked battle-ready, and his hair drifted over his face rather obscuringly. "We're so much tougher than humans - why don't we just tear 'em all down?"

_No no **no no** **no**! _Kairi was screaming at herself mentally own mind. _This isn't a joke! **This isn't a joke!** How did I get myself into this?!_

The teacher huffed at that. "We have power - and they have numbers," he elaborated. "Sooner or later, things would turn sour - on us." A smirk rose on his face. "Don't worry, though," he added. "No human alive has so much as seen this academy, let alone known what it's for."

He beckoned to the blade Kairi had noticed earlier. "Or did you think that was just decoration?"

Kairi's heart was beating like a drum solo. _I'm screwed. I'm screwed! I knew I should have done my reasearch! If they find out I'm human, they-_

Her mental rambling was cut off as the door was thrown open. Kairi didn't even bother to turn - but if she had, she would have seen a boy in multipocketed garments standing there, water dripping from him. He had a bag in his hands that was completely _soaked_, and his garments had not been spared - although they looked as though the water had been applied _after _whatever dive had soaked their wearer. His face was also absolutely _exhausted_, like he had just been beat up and had done an excellent job at hiding the bruises.

Professor Leonheart raised an eyebrow. "Late on the first class, Mr..." He glanced towards a listing on his desk. "Kingdom?"

"Sorry, sir. I crashed my bike in the water, and - well, okay, I shouldn't say _mine_, but..."

"Never mind," the teacher insisted. "There's an empty desk behind... Ms. Chikai, there. Take a seat, and try not to get anything too wet."

The newcomer nodded. "Yes, sir." Wet footsteps caused Kairi to raise her gaze, not wanting to get dripped on by...

Her body went still as she found herself locking gazed with Sora Kingdom.

Then the biker looked away abruptly, stepped past, and sat down awkwardly behind her.

+x+x+x+

After a rather horrifying school briefing, first period ended with Professor Leonheart telling the students to all wander around and familiarize themselves with the school. Sora had pulled a quick maneuver in picking up his bags and leaving before Kairi had time to reach for hers.

Wandering was not Kairi's most natural way to find her way around a building, and before long she had located a small map hand-out for student use.

She had just made her way into a huge hall that appeared to serve as a mass intersection when a voice behind her called, "Hey, firehair!"

Normally, Kairi wouldn't have responded, but she was the only one in the hall. She turned to see the silver-haired figure from Leonheart's class stepping towards her. Doing her best not to give herself away, she prompted, "Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry, Chikai, was it?" Now that she had a look at him from the front, Kairi could see he had features that implied him to be quite young. His eyes, however - they were an unnaturally intense blue that seemed to pulsate. Not to mention, hooked on his belt, on his left side, was what looked like the sheath for a katana.

"I'm Kadaj Jenova," he introduced. "Leon's class was talking about you. I heard you looked smoky, and I figured I'd see for myself." With a brief chuckle, he added, "Looks like I don't give rumours enough credit."

Kairi was now somewhat shocked, and that wasn't considering that she had noticed it was two seperate sheaths on his belt - and one hilt over them. "Uh... thanks?" she prompted.

"Yeah, you don't see many coverups like yours," Kadaj mused. "Didn't think a girl could make a human guise look that fiery, but... Guess I was wrong."

_He thinks it's a disguise! I need help!_ She looked around for a familiar face and caught sight of a head of spiky brown hair walking by. The owner of the head of spiky brown hair saw her gaze and sped up his pace, but Kairi wasn't letting him get away. "Um... Hey, Sora!"

Sora flinched and came to a stop as Kadaj followed her gaze towards him. "Oh? Who's this? You're that later from Leon's class."

The biker turned towards him and stepped forward. "Nice to meet you, too, Kadaj," Sora mused. "Kairi, you wanted me?"

"Yeah," Kairi prompted, "I was hoping you could lend me a hand making my way around the school." She gave him a meaningful look, beckoning with her head ever-so-slightly towards Kadaj.

Sora understood. "Sure thing," he replied. "Come on."

He took off in the direction he had come from, with Kairi following.

Behind them, Kadaj only chuckled and hooked his left hand over the katana sheathed at his waist.

+x+x+x+

"Why'd you call my name?"

Kairi expected the question. "You were the only one I could see," she admitted. "And I know your face - it was a little easier to call on you." She shuddered, glancing over her shoulder as Sora led her out of the main school building. "Who was that guy?"

"I heard Kadaj is something of a preyer," Sora replied. "If he sees a girl he wants, he _wants_ her. No questions asked."

"No questions asked," Kairi murmured. She had seen preyers at her previous school, but Yokai looked like a whole 'nother kettle of fish.

Sora nodded. "I'd normally never go around a guy like that, but..." He hesitated. "I... kinda owe you."

Kairi narrowed her gaze. "You..." The memory of him biting into her skin was still fresh in her mind

"I'm sorry," Sora insisted. "The scent of blood... It's draws me. My entire body goes weak until I get so much as a drop."

"So you really are a vampire," she murmured. "Like... crosses, silver, and garlic?"

Sora hesitated. "Garlic reeks like wet dog," he admitted, "so I try to avoid it at all costs."

Kairi shook her head. "I just... I mean..." She looked straight at him. "You don't... really... _look_ like you could be a bloodsucker."

Her choice of words caused Sora to wince. He looked like he wanted to object, but instead he simply sighed and reached for his chest. Kairi watched as he pulled away a charm - it was a silver crown, with two chains looped between points. The chains joined halfway to a necklace - a choker ring of jet-black around his neck.

"I disguise it as just a charm," he admitted, "but look a little closer."

Kairi squinted slightly - and then she saw it. There was a cross carved into the crown's surface, and a small gem shining out at the center. "What's this?"

"Some call it 'crucifix' or 'rosary seal'," Sora replied. "The real term is _rosario_. It locks down the dark in me." He sighed. "Problem is, it locks and it stays locked. I can't just loose it willingly."

"You can't?" Kairi was surprised.

"Nope," Sora replied. "But I still need to defend myself, right?"

He held out his hand, and a flare of light emerged from his hand, forming the same weapon that Kairi had seen before. Now that she had a good look at it, she could tell it was definitely based off a skeleton key - the loop of the key formed a guard around his hand, bright gold, and the lenth formed a sword-esque shaft. The tip of the key was a crown, not unlike that on Sora's rosario.

"What the...?" Kairi had seen weapons before, but nothing like this.

"It's called a Keyblade," Sora elaborated. "It's kind of... tricky to get the hang of, but one gets used to it."

Kairi ran her hand along the shaft and found it pretty smooth - although the jagged tip wouldn't make a bad cut, it didn't exactly look efficient. "Kind of a strange sweetspot, don't you think?" she prompted.

"You don't strike with the teeth of the Key," Sora prompted. "The shaft works fine." He swung down to sample. "It's also easy to keep track of, because it's only ever in my hands when I need it." Just to prove his point, the weapon vanished.

A nervous chuckle emerged from Kairi. "A lot of power about you," she murmured.

Sora sighed. "A lot of penalty, too," he admitted.

Kairi gave a hesitant smile. "This is going to sound kind of ironic," she admitted, "but... I do read a few vampire books."

That didn't get the reaction she was expecting. "Oh, hell, no," Sora muttered. "Don't tell me you're expecting me to sparkle."

"No, no, no," Kairi replied. "More like... a tattoo around your face, by the time we're done here."

"Lovely." Sora raised his gaze to find a structure looming up before them. "Hey, I think these are the dorms."

Kairi looked away from the vampire to see a looming structure before her. It was a multifloored, structure with a few balconies on the upper floors. Not bad - if you ignored the fact that surrounding it was a set of petrified trees and a swarm of _gravestones_.

A sound like a scream that was being strangled on its way out emerged from Kairi. "Did you just say... _dorm? _They can't seriously expect us to spend a few years in there... can they?"

"What?" Sora prompted. "This is awesome! I could die happy in that thing!"

Kairi looked at the gravestones. Dying looked like a very real possibility. "We're looking at the same hellhole, right?"

Sora chuckled. "What'sa matter, Kairi?" he prompted. "Scared of a little decor?" He thought a moment. "Speaking of which... You never told me what you are."

The question caused Kairi to yelp. _He thinks I'm a monster! Like him! He thinks I'm a monster!_ "I..."

Before she could come up with a valid retaliaton, Sora raised a hand defensively. "Damn it! School rules. Never mind. Forget I asked." He looked away nervously.

There were a few moments of awkward silence. Then Kairi coughed nervously. "I'm... I'm going to... look around the school, a bit more... alright?"

She turned and started back towards the main building.

"Hey, uh, Kairi?"

Kairi turned to see him still looking towards the dorms. "Sora?"

"I'd... I'd appreciate it, if... you didn't mention... you know..." He raised a hand over his shoulder and made a claw gesture.

Kairi was quiet for a long moment. "I'll consider it," she replied finally.

She started off, not giving him another chance to speak.

+x+x+x+

Kadaj saw Kairi walking back towards the school from a mile away. Her bright red hair made her easy to pick out, and it was evident that that Kingdom kid wasn't with her. With a light smirk, he turned away and flipped open his cell phone.

"Hey, Yazoo. You where I need you? Yeah, get the place ready, will ya?"

Kairi saw Kadaj facing away, with a cellphone in hand. He had his left hand dangling on his sheathed sword, and Kairi saw the silvery white outline of an angel's wing on the right side of his jacket.

"No," Kadaj snapped into his phone, "I don't care what flavour it is. Just don't let Loz touch it." As Kairi looked for - and found - a roundabout route into the school that would take her into the school, she heard Kadaj muse, "If he's gotta do something, get him hauling wood. If we need to light a fire, I don't want to have to wait."

That was what got Kairi moving.

"Good. I'll see you there."

He flicked his phone shut and spun to see Kairi gone. A curse escaped his lips, but he caught sight of Sora making his way towards the school. "Hey, Kingdom!"

Sora spun. "Kadaj."

"I saw you and Chikai spending time," he mused threateningly. "What're you hooking her onto?"

"Do I look like a drug dealer?" Sora prompted.

Kadaj's left hand closed around his sword's grip. "Look, Kingdom. You got no good reason to be talking with her. What are you after?"

Sora sighed. "I'm going to make something relatively clear," he prompted. "I'm not _after_ Kairi. If you want her, want her. But stop treating me like a threat."

"Maybe if you stop acting like one, then I will," Kadaj threatened.

"Are you asking for a clash?" Sora held out his hand as though to catch something. "Because I'll give you one."

Kadaj narrowed his gaze. "If I see you with Chikai again..."

His irises pulsated, and he drew his sword just a few centimetres from its sheath.

"Understood?"

Sora turned away and started back towards the dorms. "Don't waste your time."

+x+x+x+

The next day, Kairi was on her way to the main buildings. Her bag was dangling from her hands, and she had her map in hand, looking for a fast route to where the bus had dropped her off.

"Hey, Chikai!"

The voice was definitely not Kadaj, nor Sora. Kairi turned to see a girl in what, at a glance, appeared to be casual black clothes. However, as she got closer, Kairi could tell that there was something beneath. She had a black jacket that trailed low to the ground over a black t-shirt, and black stilletto heels under a pair of black capris. She had hair the colour of photographed lightning, and it was arced into a pair of antennae.

Kairi was confused. "Do I know you?"

"You'll wish you did by the time I'm through with you," the girl stated. "The name's Larxene. And I want to know what you're doing."

That put Kairi immediately on guard. "What...?" _If she knows what I am, I'm done for!_

Larxene raised her hand to Kairi's neck, and Kairi could hear sparks jumping between her fingers. "First Kadaj Jenova. Now Sora Kingdom. You're just trying to spin a web of boys, aren'tcha?"

The confrontation was starting to draw a crowd. "N-No," Kairi insisted. "You've got it all wrong, I..."

She didn't get a chance to finish. The next thing she knew, something had slammed into her arm, and Kairi gave a shout as she felt it pierce her skin. It wasn't like Sora's bite - this was a sharpened edge. Larxene grabbed kairi's unstruck arm and arced into a spin, slamming the red-haired girl to the ground with enough force to send her vision spinning.

Larxene raised her hand.

There were edges like knives emerging like claws between her fingers.

"You're high, and mighty, and in denial," she snapped. "So... what are you? A succubus? A snakehair? A watergirl looking to drag them off the cliffs?"

Kairi didn't recognize any of those terms. "I... I'm a... vampire, or something..."

That was the wrong thing to say. Larxene's eyes flared, and Kairi saw lightning spearing across them as she raised her hand. Without even thinking about it, Kairi rolled out of the way, letting Larxene drive her knives into the ground - but she only swept her hand towards Kairi, and the knives ripped up arcs of earth as Kairi stumbled to her feet and out of the way.

The arcs struck a tree.

The tree split in two.

"You?! A vampire?!" Larxene was livid. "The vampire is a force beyond nature! An immortal! A nobody like you, a vampire?"

Kairi's eyes were wide. She tried to speak, but her body wouldn't obey.

Larxene glared. "If I see you with Kingdom or Jenova again, you'll go to hell seeing sparks."

She turned away, and Kairi saw her release her clenched fist.

The knives retracted into her palm.

+x+x+x+

"She split a tree! With dirt! She split a tree with dirt!"

Kairi was in full panic mode. "What the hell, what the hell, what the hell!" _That's it! I'm out of here!_ She hoisted her bag over her shoulder.

"Okay, I swear, you're _trying_ to keep me around."

The voice caused Kairi to react, leaping away halfway through a spin. The lack of balance on the landing caused her to stumble back a few steps, during which time she saw it was Sora. "What the..."

"Kairi?" Sora prompted. "You're... you've got your bags with you."

Kairi shook her head. Larxene's threat was vivid in her mind. "Sora, I'm sorry, I need to get out of here. This school is _dangerous_ to me. I need to get out of here. I need a _human_ school."

Sora reacted to that. "No!" he exclaimed, a horror in his voice. "You can't!"

The shout caused Kairi to pull back.

"Kairi, human education has tormented me my _entire life_," Sora gasped. "Jackasses trying to find a fight turn me into a _laughingstock_ the moment I so much as _mention_ the word 'vampire'." He glanced at the earth. "They're always insulting me, laughing at me. 'It's just a story! There no such thing as a vampire! What're you gonna do, shine on us?' It took me _months_ to get that glitter out of my hair!"

He shook his head, wincing at the memory.

"Humans have brought me hell for as long as I can remember," he murmured. "And the moment I meet another monster, they doubt what I even am. They assume I'm competition."

Kairi was quiet as Sora raised his gaze.

"But then I met you," he murmured. "And... you don't question me. You don't insult me. Kairi, you're the only one who's ever shown me kindness."

His words caused Kairi to hesitate.

"You asked me what I am. Didn't you?"

Sora was surprised at that. "Yeah, but-"

Kairi cut him off with a dark look. "Sora, what I am... really... You're looking at it."

A look of shock appeared on Sora's face. "Kairi, what...?"

"Sora, listen to me," Kairi said firmly. "I'm not a monster. I don't _belong_ in this school. I got here _by mistake_."

"That's insane!" Sora insisted. "You..." He fell quiet, and his eyes widened as he reached for his mouth. "No..."

Kairi nodded. "You can tell the difference, can't you?" she prompted. "Sora, I'm _human_. I don't belong here. You _do_." She turned and started to walk away, her body tense.

Sora tried to stop her. "Kairi, wa-"

"You _sucked my blood_, Sora!" Kairi shouted, whirling towards him. "How do you know I don't _hate_ you for that?"

She didn't give him a chance to respond.

She turned away and ran, not looking back.

+x+x+x+

_"Kairi, you're the only one who's ever shown me kindness..."_

Sora's words were ringing in Kairi's ears as she made her way towards the bus stop. "This isn't the place for me," she murmured to herself. "This is a world beyond me. I don't belong here."

She arrived at the tree and sighed, hoping the bus would show up.

"What're you doing here, Chikai? You're gonna be late for class."

Kairi started at that, looking around for the source. "What..."

A chuckle. "Look higher, there, firehair!"

She did.

Kadaj Jenova was standing between the branches, his hair swaying in the breeze. "Not sure why you'd come all the way out here," he called, "but it works for me!"

He leapt up, arced through the air, and landed swiftly nearby. Kairi stepped back, her body tremoring. "What are you...?"

"Didn't Kingdom tell you?" Kadaj prompted, grasping the sword dangling on his belt. "If I see a girl I want..."

He drew the sword with a scream of steel on steel, and his eyes pulsated as his pupils became catlike slits.

"...I _want _her."

Kairi was paralyzed. In Kadaj's hands was a katana. But it was a katana with _two identical blades_, running side by side before meeting the hilt at one end and tapering to points at the other. He had it in a backhand grip, but with a flick of his wrist the weapon whirled to a forehand grip.

"No... questions... asked."

Kadaj levelled the blade on Kairi. "Now, you can hold still, and cooperate..."

Something dark began to blaze about his right side.

"Or... we can do this the hard way."

With a surge of energy, there was something draped over Kadaj's shoulder.

It was a wing.

_It was a jet-black angel wing!_

Kadaj glanced at the addition. "Sorry," he prompted. "Anticipation makes a hold on my human form a little... difficult."

He stepped forward.

+x+x+x+

The fact that Kairi was leaving was enough of a shock to Sora.

But when Kadaj was missing from the class rush, he had full reason be suspicious.

Sora started running full-throttle towards the bus stop. Preyers were never a good deal - if things went bad, there was going to be a quarrel. Sora had experience in stopping preyers before, but a weapon like Kadaj's was going to be dangerous.

And if Kairi really was a human...

+x+x+x+

Kairi hit the ground roughly. Kadaj was drifting in the air over her, necrous lightning sparking around his body as his single wing flared out around him. His twin-bladed katana was in his hand, and his eyes were shining menacingly, trapped in catlike slits.

"Damn!" he called. "You're a feisty one, you know that? You talk up a lot of storm, but you won't even raise a hand against me!" He chuckled, arcing low to the ground. "Or did you put too much into your disguise?"

_Not this again!_ Kairi glanced towards the tunnel she had come through. _Come on... any day, now!..._

Kadaj flew higher. "If you won't cooperate," he threatened, "I can always make it painful, Chikai!"

He surged down with his weapon in hand...

Only to be stopped with a clash of metal.

Kairi raised her gaze to see Sora suspended in the air against Kadaj. His Keyblade was in his hand, and Kadaj seemed surprised to see him. The lock was only for a brief moment, though; then Sora arced past, rolling as he hit the ground, and Kadaj pulled higher into the air.

"Kingdom!" he exclaimed. "You got a lot of nerve, showing up here."

Sora glanced back at Kairi, who still lay there, shocked. "Kairi..."

"Sora?"

"_Run_."

Then he turned back to Kadaj as the necrous swordsman dropped towards him, blade backhand; and Sora caught his strike against his Keyblade once again. He leapt away from the next strike, leaping back towards the school as Kadaj tried to strike him again and again.

It was then that the bus emerged from the tunnel, coming to a stop near Kairi, and the door opened, revealing the same driver that had brought her to Yokai.

"Not many people have ease to return home from Yokai Academy."

Kairi glanced at him. "Yet you figured I'd come."

"Step in. I would not like to still be here when they come back."

The driver's words caused Kairi to hesitate.

Her bags fell to the earth.

+x+x+x+

Sora caught another blow against his Keyblade, but Kadaj was starting to wear him down. He had driven Sora into a graveyard setup, and as the katana shot towards him again Sora didn't react fast enough.

The double blades ran across Sora's shoulder, and he gave a shout, falling back as the wound started to bleed. His own blood didn't give him the same reaction as Kairi's had, but the wound was on his sword arm, and that gave him a serious hinderance.

"Come on, Kingdom!" he shouted. "Get up! You can't quit on first blood!"

Sora raised his gaze. _Kairi... please, tell me you've left already!_ Weakly, he struggled to get to his feet, using one of the gravestones as a support.

Kadaj surged forward, whirling his katana into a backhand grip as he dropped low to knock Sora into the air.

The next thing Sora knew, a blur with bright red hair had grabbed him and pulled him out of the strike range, and the winged monster was swinging at air as he arced past.

"Sora, are you alright?"

Kadaj spun. "Chikai!"

"Kairi, what are you doing here?" Sora demanded. "You said..."

"I know what I said, Sora," Kairi assured him. Her voice dropped. "But... when I saw you arrive, and you lured him away... I knew I couldn't just leave you here. It's my fault if your hurt for defending me."

She looked into his eyes. "So I'm not going to let that happen."

Sora was about to reply. Kadaj beat him to it.

"You!" he roared, causing both of them to turn towards him. "You spiky-haired freak! How _dare_ you?! I told you to keep your hands off!"

His eyes were turning a necrous blend of emerald and lapis as he arced low towards them, blade braced to strike.

Kairi's eyes widened, and she turned to Sora.

Without even thinking about it, she reached for Sora's chest and hooked her hand through the loop of Sora's crown.

"_Sora, save yourself!_"

She pulled.

The chain came off, without resistance, before Sora had time to shout.

And as Kadaj came near, there was a flare of energy that caused him to pull back, wing flaring, hand before his eyes.

When Kairi could see again, Sora was on his feet, standing before her. But his hair - his hair had turned a bright orange, darkening to black at the tips of his hairstyle. His sky-blue eyes were now a dark bloodred, with a ring of gold connecting iris to pupil. His teeth were sharpened into fangs, arcing over his lower lip. And his fingernails had lengthened, turned into claws.

But those claws were jagged, spiked like keys.

Kadaj looked like he wanted his eyes to be decieving him. "No... Eyes of blood... and force beyond nature..."

Sora took a few steps past Kairi, his fluency almost dark.

"Are you looking for a clash?"

His voice was dark; and now he dropped into a low stance that looked almost feral.

"Because I'll give you one."

Kadaj was seething. "You... _dare?!_" he roared. "I don't care if you are a vampire! I'll cut you down!"

He brought his twin-blade katana back and surged towards Sora, intent on impaling him through the heart.

Kairi screamed. "_Sora!_"

Sora only smirked as the weapon neared him.

With inhuman speed, his hand rushed forward - and suddenly, he was standing there with his hand clenched around Kadaj's grip, and he was standing eye-to-eye with the one-wing.

His middle finger was between the blades of his katana.

"Don't waste my time."

He spun into a whirl, sending Kadaj hurtling into a distant tree. The katana was still trapped between Sora's fingers, and now he grabbed that with his left hand and arced it into his right.

Then he flicked it down, impaling it in the ground until the hilt met earth.

Kairi was in total shock as Sora turned towards him. There was a darkness around him, a force she could not comprehend, and as he walked his posture did not so much as waver from straight up. Kairi scrambled to her feet, the crown dangling from her hand.

What she was surprised to see was that there was a single chain dangling from Sora's choker - Kairi only had the loop that met the crown.

"Don't tell me... you're afraid of me?"

Sora grinned, and as Kairi stepped back his hand rushed forward.

It closed around the crown.

"Save yourself the torment," he insisted. "I don't know how long its been since I was released. I'm not even strong, not yet. That fool just didn't know enough to run." He stepped forward again, bringing his face inches from Kairi's. "I'll strive to remember your face."

He smirked, running his empty hand along the side of Kairi's face. "And I'll be sure to remember your taste. That's something we can both agree on."

It was then that he raised the loop of the chain to the single set of links dangling from his neck, and a tremor of steel emerged as he lowered his hand.

The crown was tied back to the choker around his neck.

The darkness in his eyes started to fade. "Take care of Sora for me. Can you do that, Kairi?"

Before Kairi had a chance to respond, his eyes closed, and Sora wavered in place as his hair faded back to brown. His teeth vanished behind his closed lips, and the key-claws around his hands retracted until they were normal fingernails.

Was Sora sleeping... on his feet?

Kairi was quiet for a moment, her gaze towards the ground.

"I left my bags at the bus stop."

+x+x+x+

As Kairi arrived, she found her bags dangling from a low branch of the tree. After making sure Kadaj wasn't lurking again, she picked up the bags and started back towards the Academy.

"Decided to stay, did you?"

Kairi stopped at the voice behind her. "You're really creepy, you know that?" she prompted to the bus driver she knew stood behind her.

"Say what you will. As I said before: Not many have ease to return home from Yokai Academy."

The observation caused Kairi to hesitate... and then shrug.

"Ah, well," she mused. "Guess you're not omniscient after all."

+x+x+x+

As she started back towards the school, Kairi found herself intercepted by Sora.

"Hey, Kairi!" he called. "Where'd you go?"

"To get my stuff," Kairi replied, raising her bags. "Hey, tell Leon I'll be in class ASAP, alright?"

Sora nodded. "No problem."

"Thanks." Kairi turned away and took one step towards the dorms.

"Um, Kairi?"

This caused her to turn. "Sora?"

"Thanks for... you know..." He pulled at the chain around his neck.

Kairi only smiled. "No problem. Thanks for taking care of Kadaj."

"My pleasure." Sora's smile fell slightly as he looked at her.

That caught her off-guard. "What?"

"You've got... you've got a really light... scratch..." He traced one finger around the side of his own face. "Right there."

Kairi reached for her face to feel the faintest of marks there. Sora's claws when the 'inside' Sora had said goodbye must have caught her without her knowing. "It's nothing," she assured him.

Sora watched her turn and race towards the dorms.

A smile rose on his face.

+x+x+x+

By the time Kairi had arrived at class, it was already halfway through the period. "You're late, Ms. Chikai," Professor Leonheart mused as she walked in. "That makes three students today."

"I'm sorry," Kairi insisted. "I won't make this a regular thing."

As she made her way to her seat, she saw Kadaj in his. He had a bruise across the side of his face, and as she passed he gave her a dark glare.

"Well," Leon mused, "I should at least hope that you, Mr. Kingdom, and Mr. Jenova have made a few friends by now."

Kairi sat down. Behind her, Sora leaned forward and whispered, "You might say that."

Slowly, a smile rose on Kairi's face, and she glanced over her shoulder at him. "Hey, fangs off."

* * *

Draco: Damn it, I can't do short chapters anymore if this is what my Chapter 1 is going to be like! Sorry if this seemed a little too... close to the real one, but I swear things are going to get more original starting with Chapter 2!

Alright, I'm done ranting. I'll be running this a chapter or two more before I start jumping between this and _Wind and Water_. Read, review, etcetera, yada yada, blah blah blah.


	2. Witch Like Waves

Draco: Chapter 2! Look at that, I'm bringing in Naminé before I bring in Riku. Little notice: the **Bite-Size Monster Encyclopedia** that I implement here and all encyclopedia entries will be _straight_ from Ikeda's series, right down to any and all mythology innaccuracies, and I will not be twisting them for my own usage. Very doubtful I'll be coming up with my own monsters - I'll find some way to tie in Kadaj and his gang into the continuity.

Note to self: Your chapter one was over 7000 words. This one's gotta be 4000 minimum.

Characters, weapons, and their origins copyright Square Enix (and Disney). Monsters, descriptions, and setting copyright Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Witch Like Waves**

Scenario aside, Yokai Academy was just like any other school Kairi had ever been to. Class times, breaks, lunch hour, curfew; it was all horribly familiar - straight down to the washrooms - and if Kairi had wanted to, she probably could have convinced herself that this was any ordinary school.

You know, if she didn't vividly remember having her blood sucked.

On her way to class, she found Sora waiting for her at the edge of the dorms' graveyard setup. "Hey, Kairi!" he called as she neared him.

Kairi only smiled. "Hi, Sora."

The two started walking to class, side by side.

"Hey, Sora," Kairi mused after a while, "can I ask you a question?"

"Probably," Sora admitted.

"You said that bike wasn't yours. What did you mean?"

"It belongs to a friend of mine," Sora replied. "He runs a delivery service - the thing has all kinds of storage on it. I needed a ride to Yokai, and he was kind enough to let me use it."

"I thought you said... humans were always causing trouble," Kairi questioned.

A sigh. "You thought I was the only one there? His old girlfriend was a snow fairy - you know, icebender? Saved him the AC costs in the summertime for a few years."

Kairi nodded. "And... what did you mean, you weren't familiar with the steering?"

Sora chuckled. "The handlebars are embedded in the front end. They're not meant for steering, just the accellerator. It moves with your body, not your hands - it takes a while to get used to. When you're on the highway is one thing, but when you need to make a fast turn or a skidding brake... it's difficult."

"I can imagine."

"Yeah, I don't want to imagine how pissed he's going to be when he finds out I dropped his bike in the water." Sora shuddered. "I'm still feeling weak from that splash when the chain came loose."

The comment confused Kairi, but she just continued towards the school grounds, Sora at her side.

+x+x+x+

After the morning classes, Kairi and Sora split up at the cafeteria. Kairi did her best to avoid Kadaj, while Sora simply sat at a table alone and started eating.

He was surprised when, a few minutes into his meal, he caught sight of a girl who was, like him, sitting alone. She had what looked like a sketchbook in hand, and she seemed to be drawing something. He watched her curiously for a while; then his curiosity got the better of him; and he got to his feet, picked up his meal, and started towards her.

She seemed to notice his approach, but didn't comment and simply flipped to a new page of her drawing.

Halfway towards her, Sora felt himself tripped by a sharp sensation at his ankles. Instinct kicked in, and he arced into a spin before he was even a third of the way to the ground. His hands slammed to the ground to stop his fall, his feet under him, and shot up, grabbing his food before it could hit him or the ground.

The occupants of the table he had tripped next to were staring at him, halfway through bites of their meal - bites that Sora could see all too much, of given their open mouths. He acted like it didn't happen and stepped towards the artist.

"Hello, there," he said to her.

She had seen his little anti-fall act, too, but she didn't speak to him. She had platinum blonde hair that drifted over one shoulder, and soft, silvery blue eyes. Her skin was bright, almost haous, and she was wearing a gentle white dress.

"What are you up to?" Sora asked kindly.

"Nothing much." Her voice was kind of hesitant, and she seemed shy.

"I'm Sora Kingdom," he greeted. "I'm from Professor Leonheart's freshman class. You?"

"Naminé," she replied. "I take Professor Scythe's class."

Sora was quiet for a moment. "Do you mind if I see your work?" he asked.

Naminé hesitated, but she turned back a page and handed him the sketchbook. Sora accepted it and looked over the image.

It was an impressive piece of art. It was of two armoured warriors locked in combat. One was in solid, earthen colours, with horns emerging from the top of his helmet. He had a double-edged sword in his hand, dark and rough like a flamberge with a bladed disc at the tip, and there was some kind of necrous aura around him. The other was in dark silver that could have had _anyone_ underneath, with a feathered white wing on one pauldron and a jet-black crown on the other. His weapon was two-shafted, but the shafts met to form a tip, with a one-sided axe-edge emerging at the end. The two were on what looked to be a pillar of stone, with clouds turmoiling above them - but a perfect gap in the clouds revealed a shining blue heart in the skies.

"This is incredible," Sora prompted. "You put a lot of detail into this."

Naminé blushed, causing Sora to wince as the blood rushed to her face. "Thanks," she murmured, taking the book from him.

"No problem," Sora assured her. "Do you do this professionally, or is it just a hobby of yours?"

"I just... do it," Naminé replied. Her face was now a decidedly heated tone of red. "I mean..."

Sora shook his head. "Forget I asked," he insisted, trying to get her to relax. "You're clearly not used to compliments."

That backfired. Naminé's face actually lit up _more_. Sora was relieved when he heard the bell ring, and he got to his feet.

"Nice chatting with you, Naminé," he mused. "I'll see you later, shall I?"

"Um... maybe," Naminé murmured, closing her book.

Sora made his way towards the hall and met up with Kairi again. She seemed to have noticed his conversation. "Who was that girl?" she asked. "You know her?"

"Just met her today," Sora insisted. "She seemed lonely, and I figured I'd lend her company."

The crowd was thick at the door, and Sora and Kairi ended up in single file. Sora had just passed the door's closing zone when it flew in without warning. Kairi was struck and ended up running into someone's shoulder. Her impact was not a glancing blow, either, and the victim retaliated with a sharp strike that sent Kairi tumbling forward. She collided with the wall roughly and ricocheted into Sora, who tried to catch her. He ended up flooring himself, his back skidding against the tile and his head landing on a foot that Sora had the sneaking suspicion belonged to Kadaj.

Kairi reached to help him up, but as Sora caught her hand someone else rammed into Kairi's back. Kairi landed face-down on Sora, and blood rushed to both of their faces.

"Sorry!" Kairi exclaimed, scrambling to get to her feet. She pressed her hands to the floor and struggled to rise, only for the foot Sora had landed on to lash out with a kick. The kick missed Sora and collided with Kairi's face, causing her to shout and tumble to the floor beside Sora, blood pouring from her nose.

The crowd chose that inconvenient moment to thin out, leaving Sora rising to a sitting position and Kairi looking and feeling considerably beat-up.

Sora reached for her hand, doing his best to ignore the scent of blood. It wasn't just her nose - whoever had struck her had left a set of claw marks on her arm. Kairi struggled to rise, a hand against the flow, and Sora had to support her to get her to a standing position.

"What just happened?" she coughed.

"I have... no idea," Sora replied, resisting the urge to sink his fangs in.

Kairi could feel his struggle. "Sora," she murmured, "if... if you need to... drink my blood, then go ahead. I won't blame you."

Sora tried to refuse the offer; but when Kairi caught his head and pulled him towards her neck, he gave in.

His teeth sharpened into fangs for a brief moment as he sank them into her neck.

Kairi went still for a brief moment, her eyes sweeping back and forth across the hall, scared that someone should show up. Then Sora pulled away, and Kairi stumbled back, feeling slightly dizzy.

"Thanks, Kairi," Sora muttered.

Kairi tried to smile. "It's alright. I can't have you stuck in a trance all day because of me." She winced. "That was... really weird, though."

"No kidding." Watching Kairi try to take a step and stumbling, he reached for her and let her sling his arm across her shoulder as they made their way to class.

Neither of them noticed a girl in a bright white dress choosing that moment to step out of the cafeteria, a sketchbook in hand.

+x+x+x+

The rest of the day went by rather uneventfully, although Kairi found it surprisingly difficult to concentrate. She blamed it on the minor blood loss she had put herself through and didn't think any further of it.

When classes ended, she made her way towards the dorms - however, she had only just entered the graveyard setup to find a voice calling to her.

"Um, excuse me?"

Kairi looked around, stumbling slightly from the fast turn. The voice was unfamiliar, but she caught sight of a figure in white standing next to a tree. Slowly, she approached the girl, recognizing her appearance - as well as the sketchbook in her hand. "You... You're that girl Sora was talking to at lunch."

"And you're the one who's always hanging around him during the day," the girl countered. "He never told me your name."

"Kairi Chikai." She didn't see any harm in talking with this girl. She definitely seemed kind enough. "Sora and I are kind of in a... give and take scenario," she admitted. "We keep owing each other."

The girl nodded. "I see," she mused. "Hey, can I get you to come with me for a moment? I want to show you something."

Kairi nodded. "Sure. No problem."

+x+x+x+

The artist led Kairi to what looked like a deserted graveyard. Unlike the various setups around the school, however, Kairi could tell this was an actual graveyard - rather than haphazard, these graves were quite orderly, and there were flowers lain before some of them.

"Why did you bring me here?" Kairi asked.

"A graveyard is where you go to meet with those believed to be dead," the girl replied, not looking up from her sketchbook. She had been drawing in it the whole time she had led Kairi here, despite having not made a single wrong turn or absentminded trip.

Kairi turned towards her. "Are you calling me dead?" she asked.

The girl turned - and Kairi saw something her eyes gleaming bright white as she swept her pencil off the page.

"It's easier that way for a victim."

Before Kairi had a chance to say anything, something wrapped around her leg.

It was a flower.

Flowers all over the graves began to arc towards Kairi, wrapping around her arms and legs, the stems elongating and digging into the ground. Kairi tried to break free, but whatever had overtaken them had also givem them far more strength, and even flowers that were whithered and dead had too strong a hold on her.

"What... what is this?" She turned towards the girl. "How...?"

The girl only giggled. "Marluxia was right," she mused. "Flowers binding a girl like you - it makes for a good look! I thought I was just twisting it on paper..."

She turned the book in her hands, holding it out to show Kairi.

"But it's actually better in reality!"

Kairi was shocked. Across the paper was the image _of Kairi_, wrapped in flowers - exactly as Kairi stood there now, right down to where the whithered stems were wrapped. "You... how?!"

"I am Naminé Kioku," the artist stated. "I'm a witch. I'm an artist. And you... are in my way."

**_Bite-Size Monster Encyclopedia: Witch  
_**_Said to be midway between humans and monsters, these ancient beings live deep in forests and control the energy of nature with their magic._

Kairi struggled against her bonds, but she already knew it was hopeless. "What do you want from me?" she demanded.

"Sora Kingdom," Naminé replied. "I needed a way to keep you out of the way. Marluxia was the one who gave me the idea of binding you in the flowers here. He's something of a nature fanatic."

She turned a page in her book - the image was of Sora, tripping in the cafeteria on a single strand of what looked like spider's web. "I can craft my magic just by force of will," Naminé elaborated, "but it's far easier for me to draw what I want to happen. When I saw him react to the fall, shooting to his feet without even thinking twice about it - I knew. I knew he's the one I'm looking for."

Kairi remembered Sora's fall; how he had caught himself and risen to his feet.

"He's a vampire, isn't he?" Naminé prompted, turning the page again. "I saw when he helped you to your feet - I saw him take a bite out of you." She held out the book once more; this one showed a series of images. The cafeteria door striking Kairi; the stranger that had knocked her into the wall; Kadaj kicking her in the face.

"You mean, everything that's been happening to me today... that was you?" Kairi demanded.

Naminé nodded. "Now, just sit there, and look pretty," she prompted, closing her book. "I'll send Yazoo over here tommorrow to bring you something to eat."

She turned away, stepping back towards the school.

"You little...!"

Kairi may or may not have cussed Naminé out if a flower hadn't shoved itself into her mouth, distracting her as she spat it out long enough for the stem of another to wrap itself around her mouth.

+x+x+x+

On his way to class the next day, Sora was surprised to see Kairi seemed to be either ahead of or behind him. When he got to class, he was able to determine she was running late on account of the fact that she was not there. He sat down in his seat and waited for her to arrive.

When the bell went off and Kairi was still not there, his surprise turned to confusion. That confusion then became concern when Kadaj glanced back at him. "Hey, Kingdom," he prompted, "you know where Chikai went?"

"No," Sora replied. "I thought you were holding her up." _What's going on?_ he thought to himself. _Kairi isn't the type to be running late._

Leon chose that moment to step inside, slightly late for himself, and Sora didn't have much choice but to sit down and get on with the lesson.

+x+x+x+

Although she wasn't exactly glad to be bound in flowers, Kairi had to admit it was quite comfy for a captivity. When night had fallen, she had in fact fallen asleep. She didn't even notice the time passing until a hand on her shoulder woke her up.

She opened her eyes to see a figure with silver hair standing before her.

"Kadaj!" she shouted through the stem across her mouth, falling back in an attempt to get away. She tried to lash out against her bonds, but the stems were tight, and all she succeeded in doing was rolling face-down upon the dirt. Suddenly, she was quite grateful for the wrap around her mouth - dirt wasn't what she wanted to taste first thing in the morning.

"You know Kadaj?" The voice that was now behind her sounded kind of quiet, almost feminine. "You must be the girl he was talking about."

A hand dug into the vines on her back, drawing her upright again. Now that she had a good look at him, she could see that his hair was much longer than Kadaj's, drifting around his face, and his features were a bit older and a touch less... hardened.

He reached for his belt with his left hand, drawing what looked like a short sword - except it was a shotgun, built into the blade. He raised it to her face, but Kairi was surprised when all he did was use the blade edge to cut the vine around her neck. "I was asked to bring you lunch," he mused.

"You must be Yazoo," Kairi mused. "Naminé's friend."

"Yes," he replied.

The next thing he knew, Kairi had slammed her forehead into his, sending him reeling back.

+x+x+x+

Kairi still hadn't shown up by lunch hour, and as Sora sat down he found himself joined by Naminé, who went out of her way to sit down at her side. "Hi, Sora," she said softly.

"Hey, Naminé," Sora murmured. "Hey, have you seen Kairi today?"

Naminé thought a moment. "Nope," she replied, "haven't seen her. Why? I thought you two spent a lot of time together."

Sora sighed. "She wasn't in class this morning," he replied. "Kadaj hadn't seen her either - and _that_'s strange, because he's a preyer and she's his target."

"Kadaj Jenova?" Naminé seemed surprised about that. "So that's what Yazoo was talking about."

Sora turned towards him. "Who was talking about Kadaj?"

"Yazoo is his brother," Naminé replied. "He's kinda... soft, sometimes, but if you get on his bad side he gets very dark. He'll shoot you up from a mile away, and dance on your sword up-close."

"Sounds like my shadow," Sora mused.

"Maybe," Naminé admitted. "Hey, would you come with me? I want to show you something really cool I found yesterday."

Sora hesitated for a moment, but replied, "Sure. I'll come with you."

Naminé led him outside of the school. "Come on," she said hastily, "let's hurry. It's a bit of a trip, and we don't want to be late for class!"

It was then that a piercing scream tore through the air.

+x+x+x+

Yazoo did not take kindly to Kairi's headbutt. His retaliation was a sharp, painful slash along Kairi's right arm, causing Kairi to give a bloodcurdling scream. However, the attack had the side effect of cutting the flowers along that arm in a smooth opening; before Yazoo or the trap had time to react, Kairi reached out and grabbed his sword-gun by the handle.

She brought it back towards her, low at her leg, ready to cut open her prison; but too soon did the flowers wrap around her arm, following the weapon until arm and gun were both wrapped in stems, with a flower's bloom every here and there.

"My Velvet Nightmare!" Yazoo snapped.

Kairi flicked her hand up and down, causing the sword to cut through the trap, but before she had time to angle it towards her leg it had already been regrown. She pulled the trigger, but all she heard was an empty 'click'.

"You didn't load this thing?" Kairi demanded.

"Of course not," Yazoo replied.

It was then that the bushes breaking caused Yazoo to turn, and Kairi looked past him to see Naminé and Sora standing there; Naminé's sketchbook in her hand, Sora's Keyblade in his.

"Kairi!" Sora shouted.

Naminé flipped open her book, reaching for her pencil, but all too soon had Sora rushed forward, his Key swinging towards Yazoo. He arced past it, grabbing Sora by the arm and hurling him back towards Naminé, who was crafting furiously onto the page.

He glanced back at Kairi.

Kairi cut through the trap long enough to set the barrel of the gun into his hand.

Yazoo whirled it into the air for a brief moment, grasping it by the handle and raising it towards Naminé; and as he pulled the trigger, a gunshot echoed around the graveyard.

The pencil in Naminé's hand shattered.

"You lied to me, Kiori," Yazoo snapped at her. "You told me, if I kept Chikai here, you would stay with me. But here you are, and you're consorting with this... this _fool!_"

Naminé's eyes were wide. "Yazoo, I said you would..."

Kairi never heard what she said Yazoo would do - because at that moment, Yazoo swept out his right hand, and darkness surged from his back, forming a jet-black angel wing _identical_ to the one Kadaj had.

"I will not have you treat me that way!"

Necrous purple lightning sparked around Yazoo, and he shot into the air, arcing away so he had a clear shot at both Sora and Naminé.

Sora raised his Keyblade as a gunshot ripped through the air, and the shot glanced off the silver weapon, striking the earth behind him. Naminé scrambled for another pencil as Kairi struggled to break free of the prison, and Sora shot forward, taking two bounding steps before leaping at Yazoo, his weapon shining. Darkness flared around Yazoo, and he clashed strikes with Sora as the vampire passed before spinning around and firing at him.

Somehow, Sora managed to twist in midair and deflect the blow with the teeth of his Keyblade; then he hit the ground, rolled, and hurled his weapon like a flying wheel. Yazoo swept around it, but didn't count on the weapon reappearing in Sora's hands, and he hurled it again. Yazoo dodged it again, but he had to pull in his wing to do it; and as Sora braced the weapon to throw yet again, he raised his gunblade and fired.

The shot hit the Key and was redirected into the ground.

Naminé's expression changed to one of victory, and as Kairi looked up to her she saw the witch raising her pencil before her. "Oh, you beauty!" She went back to the drawing she had started, her hand moving furiously across the page, and Kairi hoped she wasn't taking her time with the shading - because Yazoo and Sora were still clashing blades, and Sora was wearing down fast.

It was then that a surge of earth ripped up under Yazoo, grounding him and knocking him to the ground. The dirt that had stuck in him began to expand, wrapping around him, but as Sora went to strike at him Yazoo swept his wing out, tripping him. He managed to flare against the dirt and shot into the air, seeing the problem in Naminé.

He fired again.

This one went through the pencil and struck Naminé in the shoulder, causing her to scream.

Yazoo huffed and turned towards Sora, who had got to his feet and was trying to tear the flowers off of her - but every time it seemed he was making headway, the stems only rewrapped.

"It's no use," Kairi insisted. "You need to make Naminé..."

"I don't have time," Sora rushed. "Kairi... my rosario. I need you to get it off!" He formed his Keyblade and tried tearing away at the flowers on her left arm with the teeth of the Key.

It was then that Yazoo fired again, catching Sora in the leg, and he gave a shout of pain, falling forward.

Kairi felt silver in her hands and closed her fingers around it.

Sora hit the ground as Yazoo raised his weapon towards the sky, turning towards Naminé, and surged down, dive-bombing her.

The flare of energy from Sora caused him to stop mid-dive, covering his eyes with his wing.

Kairi felt the flowers being torn from over her body as Sora stepped past her, and she stepped away before more had time to grow over her. Clenched between her fingers was Sora's crown charm, the cross-imprint shining out on it.

Yazoo only huffed, setting his feet on the ground. "What," he mused, "you want another shot?"

He levelled his weapon at Sora and fired.

Sora twisted away from the shot when it was a few inches away from him, spun on his heel, and dashed towards Yazoo, leaping towards him. Too late did the gunslinger try to react, and Sora grabbed him by the wing joint and hurled him at the trees, cracking a few of them as Yazoo vanished into the foliage. The vampire landed next to Naminé, his hair - fiery orange within the spikes and night-black at the spikes - wavering slightly.

Then he turned towards her, his eyes gleaming, and something cold went through the witch.

"You... little..."

He raised his hand, revealing the sharpened key-claws at his fingertips.

"**_HALFWAY!_**"

His hand surged towards her, and Naminé scrambled away as the strike embedded itself in the ground. He arced towards her with a whirling roundhouse, the strike connecting with Naminé and sending her rolling across the ground until she connected with a grave.

Sora landed on his feet and pulled his claws out of the ground, stepping towards her.

He stopped when Kairi placed herself between him and Naminé, bracing the crown between her fingers.

"Stay back, Sora."

The vampire growled darkly. "What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" he spat. "That little _halfway_ bound you here with no intentions of letting you go. And she would have _killed_ you if you gave her the slightest reason."

Kairi was quiet for a long time.

"Maybe so," she admitted. "But you struck out at her, and after she tried to help you. Is that any way to thank her? By striking her down with no intentions of letting her get up?"

Naminé was completely speechless.

Sora gazed at Kairi for a long time... and then smirked.

His right hand shot forward, locking around Kairi's wrist, and he pulled her forward with a sudden force. His hand tore up, grabbing the chain from her grasp, and he arced the crown over her head before catching his fingers in her crimson hair.

"Don't play around with me, sweetheart," he threatened, his lips inches from her ear. "He and I are two very different students. He can talk up a storm, worry, flirt with you all he wants - but all I'm here for is your blood. And if anyone gets between me and my feast... I'll crush them."

Just to prove his point, he sank his fangs into her neck, and Kairi gasped as she felt him drawing blood from her.

Then he pulled away, crimson dripping onto his lips, and raised the loop of the crown to the single chain coming from his choker.

"So don't push your luck."

Then his eyes closed as the changes over Sora faded.

Kairi and Naminé were both quiet for a long time.

Then Kairi's eyes widened. "That makes two Jenova boys I've pissed off."

+x+x+x+

"Morning, Kairi!"

Kairi spun to see Sora approaching her as she left the dorms. It was the day after their encounter with Naminé, and Kairi was just glad that the bullet wounds from Yazoo's weapon hadn't ended up permanent. Granted, Kairi still had a scar along her arm from the cut, but other than that there was nothing serious - and Sora looked practically undamaged.

"Morning, Sora," she greeted.

"Morning, Sora!"

The call was like an echo of Kairi's, and both of them turned to see Naminé approaching them. She had her sketchbook under her arm, and that put Kairi immediately on guard.

Sora seemed cautious, too, but he greeted her with a gentle, "Hello, Naminé."

Kairi was far less kind. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I wanted to apologize for yesterday," Naminé said honestly. "I mean, what I did, it was... uncalled for. I shouldn't have... reacted, so badly."

The apology caught Kairi off-guard. "Wait, seriously?"

"Yes!" Naminé insisted. "I swear, I won't attack you guys again! And..." Here Naminé stumbled upon her words. "I was actually... kinda wondering, if... if you guys would... consider... letting me... hang out with you?"

Kairi said: "What?"

Sora said: "Sure!"

* * *

Draco: Well, that's two of the three remnants who have got their asses kicked by Sora! Now, who's going to be setting Loz after them? And how's the fight gonna change with Naminé in the picture? No, seriously, I'm still working on that last one!


	3. Wolf in the Dark

Draco: Alright, now for the vampire's rival. This was not intended, by the way: Ikeda's continuity _demands_ that vampires, werewolves, and yoko are the three tops in the monster world. 4000 characters minimum once again, Draco.

Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Wolf in the Dark**

The last thing Kairi expected to find at Yokai Academy was a love triangle. And that was _after_ she had found out it was a school for monsters.

First on the list: Sora Kingdom. Crown on, swinging a Keyblade. Crown off, swinging claws and sinking fangs. Two completely different figures. Kairi was still trying to figure out which one she prefferred.

Then there was Naminé Kioku. Okay, yeah, she was a witch - literally - but after everything was sorted out she was amiable enough. Her problem: Kairi. Or rather, Kairi's little 'affair', as she put it, with Sora.

Kadaj and Yazoo were preyers. They didn't count.

It was a few days after the incident with Yazoo. Sora, Kairi, and Naminé had developed a slight habit of escorting each other to class. At lunch hour, they would split up - if only because Kairi and Naminé were trying to keep themselves away from Kadaj and Yazoo (and keep the brothers away from Sora). After classes, they spent a while in each others' company - although there was something of an undertone rivalry between Naminé and Kairi, with Naminé having inarguably more participation.

Kairi had nearly managed to make it a week without incident.

Her reward? Incident.

It was lunch hour, and she and Naminé were once again dodging Yazoo and Kadaj. Naminé - who, as a sophomore, had a little experience with hiding - had provided Kairi with a few good hiding spots, but this time Kairi was diving into a small woods near the school. Kadaj had something of an advantage here - his dual-bladed katana was excellent for cutting through the foliage - but it was all about if he could tell where she had gone.

Kairi clambered up a tree's branches and did her best to hide in the leaves, breathing quiet.

The sound of Kadaj's katana slicing through the leaves came closer... closer... and then it was right below her.

Kadaj came to a stop, panting for a moment.

Kairi stopped breathing.

Then the swordsman continued forward, swinging once again.

Once the slicing had started to fade, Kairi let her breath out in a relieved sigh. Carefully, trying not to make too much noise, she descended the tree and touched down on earth.

She glanced around; then she raced back towards the school, hoping he wouldn't turn back until it was impossible for him to catch up.

What she didn't notice was a figure standing on a low branch of one of the trees, his left hand set against the trunk.

+x+x+x+

Later that day, Kairi, Naminé, and Sora were hanging out at an outdoor table just outside the school building. Naminé was displaying some of her non-witchcraft art, and Kairi had to admit she put a lot into her work.

It was another piece with a pair of armoured warriors. This was a different duo, however, and they stood back to back as though surrounded by foes. One was in bright, almost mystic hues of cobalt and bluesteel; though there were horns on her helmet, they emerged low and curled back towards her neck. In her hand was what looked like a witch's wand - a long blue shaft with a shining, arcane figure at the tip. The other was smaller, in shining silver and gold, with a haous black bodysuit where the armour didn't cover; the horns on his helmet slanted back, showing his gear was made for speed. He had what looked like a tonfa in hand that blended with his armour. There was what looked like a twister whirling around them in a manner much like a snake - and swords were caught in its storm, forming a deadly trap.

"That's really good, Naminé," Kairi mused. "Where do you get ideas like this?"

"I don't know, Naminé admitted. "They just... come to me."

"Well, make them keep coming," Sora prompted. "They're really good."

Naminé blushed at that. "Thanks," she murmured.

"Sketching around again, Naminé?"

The artist reacted to the voice, looking around worriedly. Kairi joined her, but Sora - perceptive as he was - only raised his gaze.

"Who are you?"

Kari followed his gaze to see a figure perched upon an overhang of the roof. He had long silver hair with an undertone of blue that drifted behind him, and emerald eyes that pierced the air. He was clad in rather loose clothing - a sleeveless vest and a pair of slightly baggy jeans - and he had the thumb of his left hand caught in his pocket.

Naminé saw him. "Riku?!" she exclaimed.

A smirk rose on their confrontor's face. "Hoping you'd recognize me, Kioku," he mused.

He dropped low, grabbed the corner of the roof, and arced into a very fast flip. He had enough momentum that with his hand on the corner, he was able to brace himself against the underside of the roof for a moment; then he released and dropped down swiftly, landing with one hand against the earth.

Kairi glanced at Naminé. "You know him?"

Naminé nodded, reaching for her pencil as she turned a new page.

Before she had time to so much as set the tip of her pencil upon the paper, the stuntsman was already there, pulling the book out of her hands without effort. "The names Riku Kurai," he said in response to Sora's question. "I'm a sophomore."

He turned back a page, seeing the witch-and-warrior image, and scoffed. "Are you still working on your little fantasy?" he prompted, raising his gaze to Naminé. "A year, and you still haven't changed, Naminé."

Riku ran his finger down the edge of the paper, splitting the page from the spiral of the book and letting the paper drift to the ground. He turned back a page. "Ah, a little witchcraft. Yazoo? Or Kadaj? I can't tell..." He narrowed his gaze. "With the hair, I'll bet it's Yazoo."

Another split; now he caught the book by the spine and flipped back until he came across the image that Naminé had shown Sora - the two in battle, swordsman and double-shaft axe. "So it's not a one-shot, this time," he mused, running his finger down the edge of the page and letting it drift to the earth to meet the first one.

He tossed the book back at Naminé, who caught it fumblingly. "I'm surprised you haven't tried something a little more..."

"She's an artist. Let her make art how she wants."

The outburst caused everyone to turn towards Kairi. She had her gaze narrowed on Riku, and her fingers were clenched around the edge of the table, as though she were ready to upturn it if need be.

Something lit up in Riku's eyes. "And you are?"

"Kairi Chikai," she replied.

A smile rose on his face. "I'll be sure and remember that," he mused darkly.

He stepped past their table, his fingers brushing along the table as he passed.

Kairi rolled her eyes in his direction. "What's his deal?" she asked Naminé.

Naminé shuddered. "He's kind of... a loner," she admitted. She turned towards the fallen papers and picked them up. Thankfully, Riku hadn't damaged them beyond cutting them out of her notepad, and she slipped the images between the pages of her book.

"You know him?" Kairi asked.

"Yeah, we're in the same class," Naminé replied.

She didn't say anything more. She simply slipped her book under her arm and started towards the sophomore dorms.

Sora turned to Kairi. "You think...?"

Kairi sighed, shaking her head. "Witchcraft backfire, maybe?"

+x+x+x+

That night, Riku was perched atop the school roof. Yokai Academy had easy access to the roof, so Riku's presence would be no surprise to anyone who would show up. What _would_ surprise them was his agility - for he stood upon the roof's barrier, his feet perched atop the spikes of the gate as he stepped towards the edge of the roof, despite the wind that caught his hair and arced it to the side.

The moon was bright in the sky, a day before the full moon, and Riku relished in its shine. Slowly, however, clouds began to drift before it, leaving him shrouded in darkness. And although the dark calmed him, he found it unpreferable to the beautiful luminescence of the moon, and his face twisted into a scowl.

He came to a stop at the corner of the spikes and gazed towards the freshman dorms.

"Kairi Chikai," he mused, the wind catching his words. "A beauty in light. Naminé... seeking someone with power far beyond yours, once again." He closed his eyes, smirking. "And then you... my obstacle."

He raised his gaze as the clouds blew away, and with the moon shining down on him he held out his hand before him, streaks of fur starting to emerge across his arm.

A surge of darkness volted from his hand, and he closed his fingers into a grip as a sword materialized in it.

It was no Key, but one would not deny that the dark, winged blade it formed was rather curious in itself.

+x+x+x+

The next day, Sora and Kairi were in something of a hurry on their way to class. A combination of Sora sleeping in and Kairi forgetting to turn her alarm back on meant both of them were rushing out of the dorms, not even glancing around them - which might explain why, as they arrived at the school, they were unaware of two figures watching them rush in.

"There. He's your target."

Riku was perched atop the school roof again, kneeling this time to keep himself less noticeable. Behind him, standing on the other side of the roof's barrier, was a large, muscled figure in black leather, his short, skyward-styled hair a much more vicious silver than Riku's. On his left arm was what at first appeared to be a gauntlet, but on observation it was revealed to be a massive pile bunker, outfitted with a pair of deadly pistons and a taser-esque voltage applicator.

"The spiky one?" he prompted.

"Yeah," Riku confirmed. "Knock him out at lunch hour and bring him to the cave."

"Uh-huh." The musclehead stepped away.

Riku turned. "And Loz?"

"Huh?"

His eyes blazed. "_Don't do anything stupid_."

+x+x+x+

The morning went by rather uneventfully. At lunch hour, Kairi and Naminé split up from Sora during the usual run of dodging Kadaj and Yazoo, which left Sora to sit down alone (as per usual), and eat his lunch. After the meal had been depleted and neither Naminé nor Kairi had shown up, he simply got to his feet and headed out of the cafeteria.

He was surprised to find what appeared to be a ten-dollar bill caught in the nearest door to outside. Sora looked at it for a moment, glanced left and right... and stepped towards it, hoping to grab an easy can of cola from the school's vending machine.

His fingers had hardly neared the bill when the door swung open, and the last thing Sora saw was a muscled figure snatching his ten dollars out of the air with his right hand before he drove a stun gauntlet into Sora's stomach with his left.

+x+x+x+

Kairi raced towards the graveyard where Naminé had trapped her, hoping Kadaj wouldn't think to look there. Unfortunately, Naminé was already hiding behind the graves, and so Kairi, not wanting to make it more obvious and get Naminé caught, decided to try the forest again. After listening for the sound of Kadaj cutting through the forest and not getting a result, she gave a relieved sigh and leaned against a tree.

"Hiding around here again?"

The voice caused Kairi to nearly scream before a fast hand closed over her mouth. Once the shout had been ejected into her silencer's palm - and Kairi had reacted by biting the hand that had silenced her - she turned to see Riku standing there, gripping his palm.

"Ow," he murmured, raising his gaze. "You've got quite the bite there, Kairi."

"Riku?"

"You're going to want to keep quiet," Riku prompted. "Kadaj or his brothers might hear you."

Kairi's eyes widened. "Right, thanks," she mused, keeping her voice down. "What are you doing here?"

Riku smiled. "I was wondering if you would like to... spend some time with me after classes," he replied, stumbling slightly over his words. "Maybe... spend a little time... stargazing?"

"Huh?" Kairi was surprised at his question. "Oh! Um... Uh..." She averted her gaze. "I... uh..."

"Is something wrong?" Riku asked.

"No, no... I just..." She stopped stuttering. What the hell, Riku was kind enough and had actually stopped her from giving away her position. "Sure."

Riku nodded. "Thank you," he prompted. "I'll be waiting on the roof of the school tonight - alright?"

"Sounds good," Kairi replied. "I gotta go. I don't want to be late for class."

+x+x+x+

When Sora woke up, he found himself in what appeared to be a dark cave. He looked around, trying to find out why he was here, when he saw what appeared to be a set of bars with a locked door.

Sitting on the other side of those bars was a muscled figure with a heavy-duty gauntlet on his left arm.

Sora growled low. Now he remembered - the trap at the door. He cursed himself for falling for it and rushed at the door, grabbing the bars. "What the hell are you doing?" he snapped.

The musclehead turned to him with a 'Huh?' gesture. "Oh, you're awake," he mused. "Figures." He got to his feet and stepped towards the bars. "Sorry, I'm gettin' paid to keep my mouth shut. Learned from what the others got to get an easy reward." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash - sixty dollars in tens.

"The others?" Sora asked. "You must be Kadaj and Yazoo's brother."

A nod. "The name's Loz," was the reply.

He didn't say anything more. He turned and stepped away.

Sora cursed. "Damn it," he murmured. "Don't tell me he's after Kairi or Naminé."

_...Fool..._

The voice from nowhere caused Sora to react, looking around. "Huh? Who was that?" He glanced towards the back of the cave-cell. "Is someone there?"

_...Look down..._

Sora stopped and let his gaze drop... and yelped.

The rosario imbedded in his crown was shining out against the silver. The gem sitting in the middle of the cross, which was normally an amber colour, was now shining a demonic bloodred. Sora grabbed the crown, and - although he couldn't pull it off himself - he raised it so that he was looking straight on at it.

"What the hell?" he shouted. "This thing wasn't supposed to change colour!"

_Blue Fire, you're thick. Can you really not tell?_

"What?"

_I am you - the dark in you - speaking from within your psyche. I am using the rosario as a channel._

Sora stopped and glanced at himself, looking for any other signs that he might be mid-transformation or something.

_Loz is not nearly thoughtful enough to be seeking like Kadaj and Yazoo. He is acting as a mercenary - for someone who is. Look around you - do you think a preyer would trap you somewhere like this?_

A slow glance around. "Guess not..." he murmured.

_Check the door. If it has a proper lock, this is an easy dash. If not... this will be much harder._

Sora glanced at the door. It did in fact have a solid lock on it. "Bingo."

_Do I have to tell you how to do this one?_

The Keyblade appeared in Sora's hand. "Nope."

He raised the silver Key to the door of the cell and tapped the lock. A horrible grating sound echoed as the shine from his rosario faded, and the door swayed slightly. Sora faded his weapon and pushed the door open, stepping out of the cave - it had to be at least fifth period already.

He had hardly taken two steps from the rock when Loz stepped forward.

"What the...?"

"Hell."

Loz narrowed his gaze. He pulled a catch on his gauntlet, causing a handle that Sora hadn't notice before to roll into his hand.

Sora sighed irritably. With a flare of light, he let his Keyblade appear again and braced it in two hands, keeping his center of gravity low.

The two locked eyes for a brief moment.

Loz stepped forward.

Sora levelled his Key on Loz and rushed forward in a blurring thrust.

The strike caught Loz in the shoulder, and as Sora whirled the weapon in hand he spun, dashing forward for another thrust. This time Loz was ready; he raised his gauntlet, causing the Key to clash against it, before moving forward with a single powerful punch that landed on Sora's left shoulder. The strike caused his Key to lose the lock, and Loz lashed forward with a deadly blow from his gauntlet.

The strike sent Sora flying, and he collided with a tree - the tree coming off worse from the impact. He raised his gaze threateningly and braced his Key at his side as he rushed forward.

The next thing he knew, Loz was behind him, driving his weapon into Sora's back with a surge of voltage.

Sora hit the earth, unconscious and twitching from the pseudo-tasering.

+x+x+x+

When Kairi got to class and found Sora missing, she was immediately on her guard. The first thing she did was glare at Kadaj, but Kadaj seemed equally confused as to where Sora was.

Class went by rather drearily, but Sora failed to show up. It was after classes had ended, and Kairi had met up with Naminé, that she really began to worry - particularily when Naminé asked, "Where's Sora?"

"I don't know," Kairi replied. "I was hoping you had seen him since noon."

Naminé shook her head. "I haven't," she murmured. "I'm worried." She was quiet for a long moment... then she opened her sketchbook and drew out a pencil, setting the tip against the paper.

"What are you doing?" Kairi asked as the witch held still.

"Sometimes, if I just let my art work itself, I can show someone's location," Naminé replied. "It doesn't always work, though - it's easier with a crystal ball."

Kairi gave a splutter of laughter at that last part. "Seriously?"

Naminé glared, prompting Kairi to fall silent.

There was silence... silence... silence...

Then the pencil began to move, arcing across the paper flawlessly, and Kairi's eyes widened. Naminé said nothing, letting the image craft upon the sheet, her pencil accellerating, sweeping back and forth across the page, curving, sweeping, spiking...

Until her hand fell to the side, and Naminé's gaze narrowed in confusion.

"What's wrong?" Kairi asked.

"I don't understand," Naminé replied. "I was focusing on Sora... and I got this."

She turned the paper towards Kairi, revealing a muscled figure wearing a heavy metal gauntlet on his left arm. Or rather, as Kairi got a good look at it, a heavy pile bunker. His hair was bright silver, and it spiked upwards slightly. He had a cell phone in his right hand, and he looked irritated about something. He was in a cave, sitting on a barstool with a small table near him.

Kairi shook her head. "I don't know," she admitted. The sun was starting to set, and she got to her feet. "I gotta go," she mused. "Stick to your crystal, Naminé."

She headed towards the freshman dorms, leaving Naminé looking curiously in her direction. The witch turned back to her drawing and looked at it for a moment, attentive.

Slowly, her pencil drifted to the paper, and slowly, another addition to the image rose up.

Steel bars, and a figure hidden in the shadows.

+x+x+x+

Sora struggled to open his eyes.

He was back in the cell. Loz had added a heavy steel chain to the door, and the sun had set. Loz was currently leaning against a table, a cell phone in his hands. At Sora's look, he slipped the phone into his pocket and got to his feet, turning towards the prisoner.

"I was right."

Loz was confused at that. "Huh?"

Sora smirked. "You are all brawn and no brains."

That got the reaction he was hoping for. Loz narrowed his gaze. "Yeah, says the guy who just got his ass pounded."

"Maybe I did," Sora mused, leaning against the crack between door and bars - where the chain rested. "But you're the one who was hired for it. All you gotta do is kick ass and shut mouth, right?"

"Shut up!" Loz protested.

"Eeaah... No." He glanced over his shoulder at Loz. "I'm not wrong," he added.

Loz retaliated. He rushed forward, swinging his gauntlet hand at Sora. Sora moved fast, pulling himself off the door and forming his Keyblade in hand. At the same moment Loz struck the gap, Sora tapped the door, unlocking it.

The strike shattered the chain and sent the door flying in; then it flew out, and Sora augmented its momentum to send Loz flying. He hit the same tree Sora had, and this was too much - the huge growth snapped, collapsing on the fighter.

Sora blew on the tip of his Keyblade like a smoking gun and stepped out of the cell.

A victorious tune echoed, leaving Sora looking around. Slowly, he walked further out of the cave, only for the tree to be upturned so that only its peak was touching the ground; then it gave in to gravity, and fell on the roof. The tune was made louder for a brief moment; then Sora heard the _beep_ of a cellphone being answered.

"Did you have to call now?" Loz demanded. A pause; then he snapped, "_Don't_ call me stupid!" Another pause. "No, I _got_ it. He'll be down in no time." The sound of the phone being flipped shut caused Sora to brace his weapon in both hands, and he heard a _click_ as the handle of Loz's stun gauntlet whirled into his hand.

"Now, where were we?"

Sora raised the weapon before him.

The tree was fragmented, pieces flying into the air, and Loz was left standing there, bringing his gauntlet arm back to strike.

It was then that the tree fragments all needled towards him, and Loz was sent flying before he had time to shout.

Sora raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What the...?"

"Miss me, Sora?"

+x+x+x+

Kairi made her way towards the school building that night. The school was left open, mostly because a lot of teachers liked to keep available so that students could consult them for help. However, Kairi simply snuck her way past every classroom until she found the door leading to the roof. The moon was full, that night, but it was hidden by the clouds as made her way up the stairs.

She leaned out the door and glanced around. "Riku?" she called quietly. No response. "Riku?" she called again, louder this time. Still nothing.

Hesitantly, Kairi stepped through the arch. "Is he running late...?"

"Please."

Kairi spun as the door slammed shut, revealing Riku standing there, cast in the shadows. He reached for the door's double-sided lock, clicking it shut from the outside.

"What the...?" Kairi stepped back. "Riku? What are you..."

"It's quite simple, really," Riku replied. "I invited you here, didn't I?"

Kairi pulled away. "You said you wanted me to come stargazing," she stated.

"True enough," Riku agreed. "But what's the fun in just lying here, gazing at specks of light?"

He parted his hands as the clouds swept away from the moon, and as the luminescence shone over him he held out his right hand.

A surge of shadowy mist volted from his hand, and Kairi screamed, pulling away.

It wasn't a Keyblade that appeared in his hand - rather, his fingers closed around the joint of what was a dark, demonic dragon's wing. The arc of the wing was a sharpened edge, and a demon's eye glared from the hilt of what was really a sword.

Kairi stepped back. "What are you...?"

Riku smirked as the moon began to cast a change over his features. "You're a beauty. You know that, right? No wonder Kadaj was after you. And I'd like to see what's hiding under that disguise."

He raised the blade next to his eyes - and those eyes darkened with a feral glow.

It was then that a flying vine wrapped around his weapon, and as Riku turned it pulled the blade away.

Kairi's gaze followed the weapon to see it catch against the bars of the roof's barrier. Climbing that vine was Naminé, her white dress shining in the moonlight, sketchpad in her hand - and as Kairi watched, inching closer, the witch set her pad against the edge of the roof and pull herself up swiftly.

"You never change, Kurai," Naminé snapped.

Riku only chuckled. "Same to you, Kioku."

The thing was, Riku was changing rather rapidly. As he stood there, his eyes blazing, streaks began to rip across his arms; streaks of _fur_ - of _shining black wolf_ fur. His eyes took on a feral arc, and claws ripped from his hands, shining bloody crimson. His shoes tore, only for fur to tear around his rapidly expanding feet. His face began to elongate, his teeth becoming feral, demonic fangs.

Kairi screamed.

Riku raised his gaze to the skies and gave the howl of a wolf.

**_Bite-Size Monster Encyclopedia: Werewolf  
_**_Known since the 16th century, this being shifts from human to wild animal form with the full moon. Its power and viciousness wax and wane with the brightness of its celestial mistress._

Naminé braced a pencil against a fresh page in her book as Riku lowered his gaze. With a surge of shadowy mist, the winged blade was back in his hand, and he levelled it next to his eyes.

"Put the pencil down," he snapped, "or I'll tear that book in two."

The witch reacted to the threat, and slowly, she started to lower the pencil.

It was then that the click of a lock caused Riku to turn to the door as it flew open.

"Sorry I'm late."

Sora stepped through the door, his Keyblade slung across his shoulders.

"I had other business to attend to."

Riku narrowed his gaze. "Loz was supposed to keep you out of the way."

Naminé leapt over the barrier, pencil back in hand. "You put him in a _cave_," she reprimanded, "at the edge of a _forest_. And you expected me not to use that to my advantage?"

Sora smirked, bracing his Keyblade.

Riku growled, his body starting to tremble.

Then the two rushed towards each other.

Their blades clashed wth a deadly flare. Kairi was shocked to see Riku dancing around Sora, swinging with such speed that Sora hardly had chance to defend, let alone strike. Riku was accellerating with every blow, arcing around him like a flurry of wind until he leapt against the railing and shot forward with a bladed rush that sent Sora flying.

Riku flipped through the air and landed at the edge of the roof as Sora hit the battlefield, the cut having ripped across his body.

Kairi screamed. "_Sora!_" She dashed towards him.

In a flare, Riku was in front of her. "Ah ah ah!" he warned, catching her by the arm. "Don't even touch him!"

He spun with the speed of an amusement park roller coaster on a loop, sending her skidding across the roof, and Kairi hit the entrance with a sickening thud. Naminé dashed towards her as Riku turned back to Sora, surprised to see him getting to his feet.

Kairi struggled to rise, her body weak. Naminé helped her to her feet. "Are you alright?" she prompted. "You'll want to stay out of this! Werewolves are way too powerful - nearly as strong as vampires! If you get anywhere near Riku, he's liable to cut you down!"

"Sickening," Kairi murmured. "Sickening!" She raised her gaze to the combatants as Riku lashed out with another fast blow that nearly knocked Sora's Keyblade out of his hands. "I try to get on good terms with someone else here, and now I've got a _vampire_ and a _werewolf_ fighting over me!"

Naminé glanced towards Sora as he arced into a spin that caught Riku off-guard. Riku skidded against the tiles, only to leap against the gates and rush forward with a full-blade strike that ripped a deathly cut across his back. She snickered at Kairi's comment. "Wow," she mused, "you're bad for this!"

Kairi shook her head. "Just hold Riku back," she snapped. "I need to get Sora's crown off of him!"

The witch started to draw. "Whatever you say, Bella."

"Shut up!" Kairi snapped, rushing towards them.

Riku saw her coming. With a whirling skill, he leapt over Sora's strike, landed behind him, and rushed towards her. She tried to duck under his blow, but Riku moved so fast that she didn't see his low sweep was meant to trip her - a goal that succeeded. Kairi flew through the air, colliding with the roof next to the nearly unconscious Sora.

"Listen to the witch, princess!" he roared, spinning towards Kairi as he skidded back, blade out.

Kairi struggled to get to her feet. "How...? So fast!"

Riku smirked. "A werewolf is not the strongest of monsters," he admitted, "but none can move to outrun our speed!" He whirled his blade in hand, slicing through the air like a helicopter blade. "And though the skies of night weaken us as the moon casts in _shadow_, it is when her brighter _shine_ strikes us that we are stronger... faster!"

He hurled the dragonwing blade like a knife, and it arced through the air, searing a line across Kairi's shoulder and tearing a scream from her lips.

"A werewolf under the full moon..."

Riku leapt into the air, flying until his figure was as black as his shadow, obscured like a demon of the dark against the perfect sphere of the nightlight.

"...is _unbeatable!_"

His figure blurred with speed as he landed before Kairi, catching her around the neck, and Kairi gasped, struggling for air as he lifted her off her feet.

A vine shot forward from off the school, wrapping around Riku's unoccupied arm. The distraction caused him to loosen his grip, which allowed Kairi to regain enough air to kick out, nailing him between the greaves. Riku gave a howl of pain as the vine pulled him into the barrier, slamming his helm into the steel. Kairi hit the ground, gasping for air, and her hand scrambled towards Sora, catching the loop of his necklace.

Riku narrowed his gaze angrily. The blade volted into his hand again, and swiftly he cut the vine before spinning towards Kairi. "You little...!" He rushed forward, grabbing Kairi by the neck again with a flawless pass, before whirling in place, bracing his foot against the gates, and slamming the fire-haired girl to the grown, ripping up a skidding tear across the roof.

It was then that a flare of force ripped out from Sora, and Riku froze with his blade back.

Sora was on his feet, his hair coursing from swift brown to fiery orange and darkmoon black. His fingernails arced into claws, cut out like pin tumbler keys, and the Keyblade lying at his side vanished in a flare of light. He opened his eyes - and those eyes had turned bloodred, with a ring of shining gold to seperate the void of black that formed his pupil.

The transformation caused Riku to pull back. "Vampire!"

He narrowed his gaze... and smirked.

"Oh, this is going to be fun!"

The dragonwing sword in his hand was arced back, and he hurled it forward with a deadly swing, causing it to needle forward. Sora arced to the side, evading it; the moment Riku moved; he raised his hands before him, arms crossed, as Riku lashed out. The strike sent Sora skidding back, but he wasn't expecting Riku to follow up with another rush, this one terminating with a flying kick that caused Sora to fly back.

Riku landed swiftly off a backflip, spinning to see Sora pulling himself off the stairwell housing. Riku's blade was embedded in the wall next to him, and with a flawless motion he reached back, grabbed it, and hurled it at Riku in his signature whirling blow. Riku caught the blade - he wasn't counting on Sora to rush forward, grabbing the werewolf by the arm and arcing around until Riku's head was driven into the gate with enough force to bend the steel.

Sora huffed as Riku stumbled away, gripping his helm.

"Your power is great... but too reckless."

The werewolf lashed out with a speedy combo of strikes, but Sora only stepped back from the downswipe and arced around the rushing pass, acting three seconds ahead; then, when Riku leapt into the air, Sora raised his hands, catching the falling blow between his claws.

"Your strikes - predictable to any bystander."

He pulled the blade out of Riku's hands, whirled it in hand, and lashed out with a kick that sent its owner flying.

"And your speed... not enough to make up for it."

Riku was airborne with enough lift that when he met the gate, his legs connected with it while the rest of his body did not; he flipped, landing with one hand closed around a bar.

Sora stepped forward, holding the sword by the blade - and he drove the handle against the knuckles of Riku's fingers.

"As far as I'm concerned, your job here is done."

Riku fell.

Sora tossed the blade over him.

+x+x+x+

The next day, Kadaj and Yazoo were both absent, leaving Sora, Kairi, and Naminé without need to split up at lunch hour. Naminé took the chance to give something of a confession to the others.

"You're kidding," Kairi mused.

"I'm not," Naminé insisted. "Me and Riku were dating for a while. But... well, Riku wasn't exactly happy to find out what I am."

Sora turned to her. "He dumped you because you're a witch?" he asked. "That's harsh."

Naminé shook her head. "No," she replied. "He stopped meeting me during the day. Our dates became something of a night thing. That gave him a _perfect_ excuse to start throwing up rumours..."

"That Kioku here was a succubus in disguise."

Everyone turned with a yelp to see Riku standing nearby. He had a sneaky grin on his face, and he was balancing a tray in one hand - with some difficulty - as he leaned on their table.

"Of course, that tarnished her repuation like silver in a waterfall," he mused. "People started cracking jokes at every chance they got. I even remember someone shouting across the classroom when Leon wasn't around, 'Hey, everyone, it's the art sl-'"

"What the hell, Riku!" Naminé snapped. "What are you doing here?!"

Riku took offense to that. "What," he asked, "a guy can't come around to say hello to a bloodsucker and a pair of girls? I'm just trying to fill in the plot holes."

Naminé kicked his left shin.

Sora kicked his right.

Kairi picked up a plastic fork and threw it, getting it stuck in his tounge as he tried to shout.

Riku had somehow managed to not drop his tray through a bleeding shout. He pulled the fork out of his mouth, revealing a bloodstain upon the plastic, and let it fall to the floor as he rolled his tounge in his mouth. "Gross," he mused on the taste.

"Now that's something all five of us can agree on," Sora mused.

Naminé had her sketchpad in hand as Riku stepped away, but Kairi was surprised to see it was on the image of Sora tripping on the webstring. Naminé, however, was doing some editing; with a few fast strokes of the eraser end and some redrawing, it was now _Riku_ tripping on the spider wire.

A clattering sound and a very loud curse caused all of them to grin; then Naminé raised her gaze to Sora. "What do you mean, five of us?"

"Keyslinger Sora and clawsinger Slora - _cawslinger Sola - **clawsringer-**_" Kairi glared skyward. "I give up. Inside Sora and outside Sora are two different vamps."

Naminé shook her head. "First the Meyer reference, now you're tying your own tounge. I'm out of here." She got to her feet, taking her lunch and her notepad with her.

Said keyslinger's eyes widened. "Oh, that reminds me!" he mused. "You're not going to _believe_ what happened to me while Loz had me trapped."

Kairi turned to him. "What?"

Sora pulled on the chain of his crown, tapping the gem in the middle of the rosario. "This was _talking_ to me," he replied. "Or, _dark me_ was talking to me _using_ this."

That shocked Kairi. "No way," she murmured. "I thought you said that locks down your dark?"

"It does," Sora confirmed. "But... I don't know. I think the way you've been letting it loose is..." He stopped.

Kairi realized what he was saying. "It's... weakening the seal," she murmured.

Sora nodded. "Maybe," he admitted. His gaze fell to the table. "Kairi, I... I want to know. If my rosario stops working... what will you do?"

"I'm going to _make_ it work," Kairi snapped without hesitation. "And if I can't make it work, I'll find someone who _can_. Sora, it doesn't matter if you're the guy who's swinging a Keyblade or the guy who's drinking my blood... I'm gonna stay your friend."

The outburst caused Sora to pause... and then close his eyes with a smile.

"Thanks, Kairi."

* * *

Draco: ...And what really _pisses me off_ is that I may have to make SoKai temporary if I can't run a good triangle when Xion shows up! I sigh irritably and curse myself darkly. Thanks to all my reviewers so far! Can't remember the last time my work was read this well.


	4. Club War

Draco: Sorry for the delay, guys, but this stuff is refusing to agree with me.

Yep, I gotta throw a club at these guys. Yokai rules. I was gonna dunk Sora in the pool like Ikeda dunked Moka in the pool, but I decided against it. Ah, well, I can still get a shockdrop or two. And by the way, Cherucha, I _do_ in fact have to credit Disney: all KH original characters - Sora in particular - are jointed copyright. One does not simply make a Mickey Mouse reference their main character in a joint project and then call it their own.

Also, Sora's artistic incompetence is based on an abandoned fanfic idea I had before I had any real KH knowledge. I'm not even going to bother going into it.

Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Club War**

A month. Somehow, Kairi had managed to survive a _whole month_ at Yokai Academy. As though that wasn't enough, she had also managed to catch the attention of both Sora and Riku - two of the most powerful monsters in the school. Her only problem with that setup was that Naminé would _not_ stop cracking jokes about the irony of her situation - every chance the witch got, she would be poking fun at Kairi and Sora, or Kairi and Riku, or all three of them, or even just Kairi.

Kairi did, however, have one major problem altogether: She was skating on melting ice.

Only Sora knew that she was human in this 'monster academy'; Naminé and Riku still assumed that she was some heavy hitter that didn't get the chance to hit heavy. So far, she hadn't had any problem, but she was still scared that an unwelcome confrontation was right around the corner.

When she got to class that morning, she found Sora sitting in his desk, looking nervous. As she sat down in front of him, Sora leaned forward. "We've got a problem," he murmured.

Kairi turned to him. "Define problem," she said quietly.

Sora glanced around cautiously, then leaned forward and whispered into her ear; "The other day, when you left, Riku and Naminé asked why you never get involved in the fighting."

"What?" Kairi was in instant panic mode. "What did you say?"

"I told them that you figured I was a lot stronger," Sora replied, "and had a better chance in battle."

"They bought that?"

"Then gave me some funny looks, but... yeah, they bought that. For now, anyways."

It was then that Professor Leonheart stepped into the classroom, the bell ringing as he passed the doorway, and took his stance at his desk. "Alright, class," he prompted. "Down to business. You've all done well so far. This academy aims to get all of you used to suriving in the human world down to one plus one. But I should hope you know this much. Now, we're going to take human-world survival to the next level.

"Starting today, each of you are going to join a club."

The statement caught Kairi off-guard. "Club?" she murmured, slightly.

"Club?" The exclamation came from Kadaj, who sounded rather eager. "Oh, baby," he mused, quieter.

"Of a sorts," Leon admitted. "To survive in a world of humans, you need to understand human thinking. And to understand human thinking, you need to participate in the kind of activities that humans participate in. In addition, the mandatory sustainment of your human form during these activities will assist in helping you keep up your transformation."

A few students spoke up. "Will there be a firearms club?" "How about a sports club?" "A/V club?" "Chess club?" "Strip club?"

Leon raised his hands to shut everybody up. "To answer your questions: No, yes, yes, _maybe_, and no - in that order." He paused at the accumulated "_No!_" from some of the guys - Kadaj included. "Now, I've provided a list of available clubs for you to look order. Feel free to pick whichever you want. And no slamming each other into my desks to get at it!" he added. "I hold my newspaper club in here!"

+x+x+x+

Kairi and Sora looked over the club list, but both agreed that an eyes-on browsing through the clubs would be more efficient. They made their way through the halls - the clubs each gathered in particular rooms, leaving the doors open to watch browsers.

"Hey, Kairi!"

Kairi turned to see a suspicious figure at the door to one of the rooms. He had a camera in hand. "Would you like to join our photography club? You'd make a great model!" The camera was raised.

Sora dashed, and Kairi replied by following him, hand raised to block the shot. "Nope. He's going to take shots from _every_ angle," she admitted.

A few doors down, Sora caught sight of a curious figure in what looked like a mock wetsuit. "What's up, you two?" he called. "Care to join the swim club?"

The vampire reacted to that. "Hell no! Hell no!" Sora took off, Kairi not even looking at the guy.

"No thanks," Kairi mused. "Putting me in the pool with a swimsuit? That's going to label _me_ as a succubus. I think. What the hell is a succubus?"

"Femme fatale demon who wants men," Sora replied, his breathing heavy. "Emphasis on _wants_."

"Heeeey, sexy lady!" Both of them turned to see a slightly bulging figure in another doorway. "We've got a cosplay club in here," he mused. "You two wanna join?"

"Hell no!" Kairi insisted. "Hell no!" She turned away. "Cosplay? That's _asking_ for trouble!"

They continued through the hall, looking for something interesting. They ignored offers from "the chemisty club! Try out our new perfume!" as well as "the chess club? Please? We haven't got any girls in here!" and "the cooking club! We've got sweet recipies, and we're not gonna charge you for the cooking! Come on!"

Eventually, they came across a room that sounded like they were beating leather. Curious, Kairi stepped inside, Sora following with a slight delay.

That delay saved his consciousness when a punching bag passed between them at werewolf speed.

Kairi spun at the sound and found herself looking around. "What the... what is this?" The place looked like a musclehead's gym. There were a few boxing rings, fenced-in narrow paths, circles carved into the dirt, punching bags all along the walls, and a lot of built guys that looked like they had earned those pipes in their human forms.

"Oh, hey, Chikai!" Kairi spun to see Riku looking towards her in one of the rings, a pair of boxing gloves on. He turned back to a guy with earthen hair and a narrow glare who looked like he could put a smack-down on a vampire, sidestepped a straight-arm punch at crescent speed, and slammed a fist into his gut. Riku came off the worse of it, though, and the warrior retaliated with a roundhouse punch that sent Riku spinning into the ropes.

Kairi winced as his stomach met the leather, but Riku only retaliated by spinning to his opponent and lashing out with a halfmoon flurry. His opponent blocked or took every hit; then he lashed out with a powerful blow that knocked Riku to the floor.

"Time... time out, Professor Axe, yea?" Riku gasped. He stumbled to his feet, reached for a water bottle that was sitting on one of the turnbuckles, and took a long draught from it as Kairi and Sora approached the ring.

"Riku?" Kairi prompted. "What is this place?"

The werewolf lowered his bottle. "Fight club," he replied. "We'll take your fists and swing them until you're going to be fighting _Sora's_ battles for him. I've been in this thing since my freshman year. As a sophomore, I've got status priveleges, and I've been assigned as SiC."

"Seek?" Kairi asked. "What's that mean?"

"Second-in-Command," Riku replied.

His opponent stepped up to the edge of the ring, and Riku turned to him. "Oh, Professor Axe. Here, this is Kairi, and that's Sora. Guys, this is Professor Lexaeus Axe. He's for senior class and he's charge of the fight club."

Lexaeus nodded. "Welcome," he mused. "Are you two interested in joining?"

Kairi was actually quite eager. She didn't want to get too dependent on Sora to come to her aid; a few rounds in the fight club would do her good. "Sounds awesome!" she prompted.

Sora was about to say something when he gave a sudden gasp of horror. A sound like the static charge on a lightning rod echoed around him as he reached for the back of his neck. "What the hell?"

Riku raised his gaze to just above Sora. "Oh, you're under the leaky fire shower," he prompted, sounding surprised and worried. "We've got about twelve of them set up here, but just the one leaks."

The vampire reacted by taking three steps back. "Um... tempting offer, Professor Axe," he admitted, "but... I'll pass. See ya, Kairi!"

He took off at high speed, sliding under another swing from the punching bag like a baseball player.

Kairi was confused. "Sora...?"

"Alright, Kairi," Riku replied, causing Kairi to turn to him. Professor Axe was already leaving as he explained, "If you're in, we're going to have to give you an entry fight to measure you up. How about..." He glanced over the other club members and perked his gaze. "Hey, Yuffie, can you come over here?"

A girl who looked very _kunoichi_ turned to them. "Oh, hi, Riku!" She rushed towards them, skidding to a stop. Kairi saw she was in full ninja attire: close garments, headband, and a shuriken tattoo on her left arm, with four spheres around it. She had newmoon hair and sneaky-eager dark blue eyes. "You need me?"

Riku nodded. "Kairi, this is Yuffie Kisaragi. She's ninja and she knows it - she came here to toughen up on hand-to-hand. Yuffie, Kairi Chikai. She's here for now and we'll see how it plays from there."

"Alright!" Yuffie mused cheerfully. "Nice to meet you, Kairi. Hope you're ready!"

"Um... same," Kairi agreed.

"Enough with the chit-chat," Riku insisted. "Guys, into the fighting ring. Kairi, take the far corner."

Kairi clambered between the ropes somewhat inefficiently as Yuffie leapt over the turnbuckle. Kairi was surprised to see Riku stop Yuffie from taking her offensive stance. "Not so fast," he insisted. "Hands in the air, don't move."

Yuffie sighed as though caught stealing the cookie from the cookie jar. She raised her arms, hooking her palms together as Riku gave her a thorough frisking. Kairi would never have been able to not _squirm_ in that scenario, but she saw that it was not unfounded when Riku began to pull various weaponry from under Yuffie's garments. Shuriken, kunai, small daggers, even small, smooth metal rings that Kairi recognized as miniature chakrams.

When he finished, there was a small pile of ninja weapons sitting next to the ring and Yuffie had an embarrassed crimson blush across her face. Riku pulled away, and Yuffie smiled, lowering her hands - though still together. Riku saw the motion and stopped, narrowing his gaze. Yuffie tried to pull off a 'what?' expression, but failed and sighed, parting her hands.

Kairi was surprised - were those _diamonds_ embedded across that shuriken?

Riku pulled the ninja star from her hands. "Alright, you're clean. Finally. Professor Axe," he called across the club room, "you might want to check the bags for any cuts, holes... or kunai."

He arced over the ropes as Yuffie shuddered, smoothing out her clothes. "I didn't even think he'd look in there."

Something told Kairi that she wasn't talking about her hands.

"Alright, we'll let you guys go freestyle," Riku prompted. "No limits, but don't go for any deathblows. Yuffie, stay in the ring. Kairi, no offense... but prepare to have your ass kicked."

Yuffie smiled, taking a pose that was so totally _ninja_. "Just give up," she prompted, "it'll be easier."

Kairi gulped, bracing her hands in a basic fighting pose that she had seen a few professionals take.

"Ready? Go!"

+x+x+x+

Sora was pacing in the hall outside the fight club room, breathing heavy. At the same time Riku had pulled the diamond shuriken from Yuffie's hands, the vampire had turned to leave when he heard a voice call, "Sora?"

He turned to see Naminé standing there, surprised to see him. "Naminé?" he prompted.

"What are you doing here?" Naminé asked.

"Kairi and I were looking for a club," Sora replied. "Kairi joined the fight club, but... one of their fire showers is leaking, and I don't want to be there when it breaks."

Naminé nodded. She understood completely.

Sora shook his head. "What about you?" he asked. "Didn't think you'd be interested in the fight club."

"I'm not," Naminé replied, beckoning to the door straight across the hall from said combat area. "I'm SiC for the art club. You want to come in?"

"Will there be leaky pipes?" Sora asked. Naminé shook her head. "Then sure, I'm in."

They stepped in, and Sora could see all sorts of visual crafting supplies - pencils, pastels, paint, clay, glaze, papier-mâché. In one corner was a figure with surprisingly pink hair, wearing a flowing black robe. As he turned, he saw Naminé stepping towards him with Sora trailing him.

"Professor Scythe," Naminé mused, nodding politely.

"Ah, Naminé," he greeted. "And who is this?"

"This is Sora Kingdom. Sora," she prompted turning to face him, "this is Marluxia Scythe. He's the sophomore homeroom teacher."

The name put Sora on guard. "I see," he muttered. "You're... Marluxia."

Professor Scythe sighed. "Naminé, would this, by chance, be the 'victim' you referred to?"

Naminé shook her head. "No, sir," she insisted. "However, I must say that he is close with her."

"I see." Marluxia closed his hands together. "Well, Sora, I should hope you'd like to join our club, here. See anything you might enjoy?"

Sora glanced around. "Well, there are a few welcome mediums," he observed. "Do you guys have oil paints?"

Professor Scythe nodded. "We do."

"Kiln?"

"Top-grade."

"Pastels? Pencils? Crayons?"

"All three."

"Popsicle sticks?"

"In thirteen different colours."

Sora turned to Naminé. "Congratulations," he mused. "You just got yourself a club member."

+x+x+x+

Kairi hit the ring roughly. Yuffie was good at evasion and liked to land sneaky blows from behind, and now, as Kairi struggled to get to her feet, she heard the ninjette rushing her from behind. Quickly, she rolled to the side as Yuffie sped past her, causing the kunoichi to miss and ram into the ropes as Kairi stumbled to a stand.

"Alright, girls, that's enough," Riku prompted. "Yuffie, well done. Take a break, and put all that metal away." The ninjette arced over the ropes and picked up the pile of weaponry. Professor Axe was standing nearby with a bag, which Yuffie gratefully dropped her weapons into and took from him on her way out.

Riku stepped into the ring as Kairi panted against the ropes. "Riku...?" she gasped. "How'd I... do?"

The werewolf was quiet for a moment as Kairi leaned there, breathing at rapid fire. He looked worried about something. "You're not a heavy hitter," he mused. "You're not a strong defense, either. I'm sorry, Kairi, but that's just how it is."

Kairi lowered her gaze, still panting.

"However," Riku added, "you are sharp. You're able to see where your opponent is going to swing. You can hear the strike coming when you're looking the other way. And with enough practice, you'll be able to turn that into predicting a pattern in their strikes."

"Really?" Kairi's gaze shot up.

Riku nodded. "Not the worst start." He smiled. "Good job, Kairi."

Kairi nodded, smiling back. "Thanks... Riku..."

+x+x+x+

A flying silver pastel shattered against the wall.

Sora threw his hands into the air with an exasperated shout and pounded the table. He had been attempting to draw his Keyblade. That had resulted in a stick. With a crown. Dangling from the tip. And quite frankly, that was putting it nicely. As of the shattering pastel, Sora had done seven attempts.

This was his best one.

Naminé sighed, setting her hand on Sora's shoulder. "Calm down, Sora," she insisted.

"Who knew that drawing a big silver stick would be so hard?" the vampire murmured.

"You need to relax," Naminé insisted. "Hey, why don't you try something a little easier?"

Sora turned to her. "And what, exactly, is easier to draw than a stick?" he prompted.

Naminé shook her head. "What I meant was, find something a little more basic. In fact - here, let me see that pastel?"

Curious, Sora handed her the gold pastel he had been using - and was surprised when Naminé hurled it over her shoulder. It shattered against the floor across the room.

"Try a different medium," Naminé prompted.

+x+x+x+

The next few days were to be devoted to club activities, which everyone quite appreciated. Noon hour that day, Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Naminé all sat down together. Kadaj and his brothers were all engaged in the activities for whatever clubs they had chosen, and none of the quartet had run into them.

"How'd things go with you guys?" Kairi asked of Naminé and Sora.

"Pretty well...ish," Sora admitted. "I figured I'd try my hand at art club."

Kairi raised an eyebrow and turned to Naminé - who she figured and actually hoped would be in art club.

"Pastels don't agree with him," she admitted, "but he's getting better with pencil work. He's just gotta stop... rushing."

Sora changed the subject. "How was your fight club trick?" he asked.

"Yuffie _kicked my ass_," Kairi groaned.

That surprised Sora. He turned to Riku.

"Yuffie kicked her ass," he admitted. "She's good at figuring out where the strikes are going to come from, but her reaction time needs a little improvement. She did roll away from a back-attack when she was on the floor, though."

A quarrelling from the door caused everyone to turn to see two figures wrestling into the cafeteria. One of them was heavily muscled, with a mane - literally, a styled _mane_ - of blazing red hair like some kind of wild golem. The other was rather scrawny, but he was definitely an evader, sweeping around his foe until he was right behind him and panting.

"Oh, Cross Thunder," Riku and Naminé muttered at the same time.

Kairi was surprised. The witch and the werewolf did not often get along. "Something wrong?"

"That's Thorn Darke," Riku replied, beckoning to the ifrit. "He's in the fight club, but he's a brutal brawler. His strategy is pure force until his opponent is on the floor."

"And his opponent - that's Sessor Threshold, from the art club," Naminé added as the scrawny guy got floored. "He's kind of disastrous if you get on his bad side, because he'll tire you out and taunt you."

She and Riku exchanged glances; then Riku rushed to the door as Naminé flipped open her sketchbook.

Riku got to the quarrel and grabbed Thorn's arm. "Hey, cut it out!" he snapped.

"Back off, Kurai," Thorn muttered, lashing out and causing Riku to duck under the blow. "Just 'cause Axe made you SiC this year doesn't give you bragging rights. Now stay away." He launched a palm thrust at Riku's midsection, and though Riku blocked it, it did send him skidding backwards. "I'm in the middle of something here."

He turned around just as Sessor landed a leaping kick on Thorn's face. With impossible dexterity, he landed on the floor in front of the musclehead, swept around his legs, slapped the side of his neck, and clambered up his spine like a special ops jokester. Thorn turned, causing Sessor to skid halfway through the ascent, flip in the air, and drop into a sitting position on his shoulder.

Thorn spun again - except this time, his feet connected with an unnoticed spider's web that had formed a few inches from the back of his heel. Both he and Sessor tumbled to the floor - and the two cafeteria tables the web had been tied between were each dragged three inches towards the battle. Both of them stumbled to their feet - Thorn was under confusion, and Sessor had taken the fall from a lot higher - but at that moment, Riku stepped between them.

Soul Eater, his dragon-edge sword, was in hand.

"Cut it out," Riku snapped, "both of you!"

Sessor huffed, turning away.

"Yeah, you run, Poe!" Thorn snapped at him. "I'll have you down before class is out!"

"No, you won't," Riku stated. "Thorn, back off. You know full well that if you keep quarrelling with him, Scythe is going to have both our backs for it."

"Bulbo," Thorn snapped. "That flower boy ain't got nothin'. He tries something on me, I'll pummel him. And I'll pummel you, too," he added, raising a finger at Riku. "You stop tickin' me off or I'm gonna take that fancy stick of yours and..."

"And _what?!_" Riku's eyes gleamed a dark gold, and he raised the blade next to his eyes.

Thorn went still for a moment, his eyes going wide as the dragon wing... flexed?

He huffed. "Just stay out of my way, Kurai," he snapped. "You're crampin' my style."

With that, he turned away, walking out of the cafeteria.

Riku glared after him, lowering his blade to his side as a dark mist wrapped around it, sparking cobalt - his fingers parted, for when the mist faded, the weapon was gone. He sighed and stepped back towards his friends, sitting back down next to Kairi.

"That went badly."

Kairi glanced in the direction Sessor had gone. "Thorn called him... what, Poor?"

"Poe," Naminé corrected. "It's an old ghost story. Thorn uses it as a kind of dual insult."

"Huh?" Kairi thought a moment. "Poe... Sessor - oh." She smacked her forehead. "Duh."

"Thorn and Sessor have been running a dark kind of rivalry. This is their third year running. We thought it had shut down last year, when Riku and I were still together."

Sora turned to her. "I'm left with the impression that you phrase it like that because you two being together had an impact on that shutdown."

Riku nodded. "Thorn was after her. Sessor was after her. I lured them out on the full moon and shut them both up."

Kairi chuckled. "Nice."

It was then that the door was thrown open as Thorn flew back in, skidding across the ground. There were sparks on his chest, and as everyone turned the trio of Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz stepped in. The handle of Loz's pile driver was in his hand, and Kadaj and Yazoo both had a ready hand on their weapons.

Kairi and Naminé exchanged glances. "Aaaand we're out."

Riku and Sora nodded. As Riku raced along the walls of the cafeteria at halfmoon speed, Sora stepped up to the Jenova brothers with a dark look on his face. "Hey, Kadaj," he mused, "where have you been? Kairi was scared you weren't competi-"

"Out of the way."

Kadaj reached forward, and as his hand connected with Sora's torso, the vampire was sent flying over Thorn. He flipped into a skid, reaching for his torso weakly - he didn't even know what Kadaj had done.

The Jenova brothers stepped up to Thorn, who looked like he was positively beat. "Well, well, well," Kadaj mused. "What did you think you were doing, exactly?"

Thorn coughed weakly, rising to a sitting position. "Punks," he murmured. "Think you can just walk all over us like freaks?"

Loz stepped forward and slammed a punch into his head, knocking him back. He then grabbed him by the shirt and raised his pile driver, the pistons starting to pull back.

"Yoo-hoo!"

All three Jenova boys turned to the window to see Kairi, Naminé, and Riku all there. Naminé was out the window already, standing at a slight tilt to evade the glass, while Kairi and Riku were perched on its ledge; Riku had one foot propped up on the sill and the other dangling inside, while Kairi's feet were swinging outside. In addition, just as though the base taunt wasn't enough, Riku had a cell phone in his hand and was browsing the ringtones.

The phone... was not his.

Kairi waved to them. "Hey, mantises! I thought you guys said you wanted us!"

Naminé nodded. "You'll have to spend some time on the track, first."

Kadaj's eyes widened. "Chikai!"

Yazoo narrowed his gaze. "Kioku!"

Loz let go of Thorn, causing the musclehead to fall to the floor, and turned to them. "You're that witch from my payjob!" he snapped. "And you... you're that chick from the fight club!"

All three Jenova boys turned away from Thorn and started towards them. Naminé ran; Kairi dropped out; Riku swung his legs over the edge and dodged as Loz ran into the sill. He pressed a button and tossed the phone into the building, causing a victorious tune to echo throughout the cafeteria as Loz stumbled away from the wall. That elected a round of laughter from the students.

Kadaj leapt over the sill.

Yazoo did the same.

Loz followed suit, muttering curses under his breath.

Once he was sure the Jenova boys weren't coming back in, Sora rushed up to the window and pulled it closed. Then he turned to Thorn and dropped to one knee, dangling his arm over his other leg as the musclehead rose to a sitting position again.

"You know you owe us, right?" he prompted.

Thorn growled. "I owe you, and Chikai. The other two just broke even."

+x+x+x+

Once noon hour had passed, the rest of the day composed of Riku giving Kairi some training in the fight club - where she found out Loz was a member - and Naminé helping Sora with his techniques in the art club - where he found out Yazoo was a member. They had yet to find Kadaj's club activity, but Kairi had a feeling that sooner or later he was going to pop up and tick them all off.

By the end of their training session, Kairi was absolutely exhausted. Riku could tell that stamina was going to be something else she'd have to train up with, but for the most part he was rather impressed. Their training had been hand-to-hand techniques on a punching bag, which Kairi had nearly been floored by when she sent it swinging back at her - but she had taken the sweep in stride, observing that she had actually got the thing to swing.

Riku nodded. "You're doing good," he admitted. "You could probably handle Yuffie in a couple of days."

"Oh... hell no... not... Yuffie... again," Kairi pleaded, still panting heavily. "One round... was... enough."

"Don't worry," Riku laughed, "I'm not going to set Yuffie on you again today." He caught Kairi's shoulder. "Why don't you go check the ring and make sure she didn't leave anything behind? She grabbed the whole thing in one load, I'd be surprised if she didn't."

Kairi nodded. She made her way towards the ring, looking around for any fallen kunai, shuriken, or chakrams. She found one kunai on the floor - _one_ - and as she knelt to pick it up she felt a drop.

She straightened up instinctively, looking around, before she realized she was standing under the leaky fire shower. With a sigh, she caught the kunai and started off towards the door.

As she was leaving, Thorn, who was training on a bag not far from the door, landed a swing with enough force to shatter the chain. Kairi jumped at the breaking metal, turning to see Thorn stepping away. He gave an irritable sigh, which left the impression that this had happened many times before, and Kairi left as he grabbed the thing and tried to hook it back up.

+x+x+x+

That night, Marluxia Scythe stormed through the halls. Anyone who saw him coming got out of the way - for there was a fury in his eyes as he made his way to the fight club gymnasium.

Inside, Lexaeus Axe was looking over the bags, looking for any that might require repair. This was often a routine of his, but he didn't usually do it the first day of club activities. Riku's advice, however, after finding Yuffie's stash of weapons, had given him reason to - and as Marluxia walked in, Lexaeus one-handed a bag nearby off its chain and hurled it towards the ring. It landed with a loud thud that sent vibrations through Marluxia's feet.

"I need to speak with you, Lexaeus."

The fight club commander turned. "What is it, Marluxia?"

"A member of your fight club has been attacking Sessor Threshold from the art club," Marluxia informed him. "This has made three consecutive years that this opposition has been going on."

Lexaeus turned to face him. "The only reason Thorn has been attacking is that Sessor has been taunting him," he replied. "This morning he outright demanded a fight."

Marluxia shook his head. "Because Thorn had attacked him earlier and walked away before Sessor could retaliate. In addition, he has made an enemy out of Yazoo Jenova."

"That is a different matter altogether," Lexaeus corrected. "Thorn has made opposition from all three of the Jenova brothers - Kadaj, Yazoo, _and_ Loz."

"Regardless," Marluxia retaliated, "it is your responsibility as club commander to take disciplinary action upon Thorn Darke."

"Just as it is yours to take such action upon Sessor Threshold."

The two stood eye to eye for a long period of time.

Unusually, Lexaeus broke the angry silence. "How many members of your art club are capable in an unarmed fight?"

Marluxia was surprised by the question, but he answered without hesitation. "Three - Yazoo Jenova, Sessor Threshold, and Sora Kingdom."

"Tomorrow," Lexaeus prompted, "during the time normally alotted to fifth period, bring those three here. I will pit them against three members of my fight club. If your members take victory, I will take disciplinary action upon Thorn. If mine take victory, you will take disciplinary action upon Sessor."

The sophomore teacher was quiet for a long moment.

"Challenge... accepted."

+x+x+x+

The next day, during the first-period slot, Marluxia informed his combatants of the situation. Yazoo and Sessor were anticipating the showdown. Sora, not so much.

As the fighters went back to their tables, Naminé approached the commander. "Professor Scythe," she prompted, "are you certain...?"

"Naminé," Marluxia insisted, his voice dark. "Professor Axe has given us a challenge that we have a high chance of winning. If it will settle our conflict, I say we take the opportunity. Understood?"

The way he spoke caused Naminé to pull back. "Y-Yes... Of course."

Marluxia smiled at her. "Good. Now, why don't you rejoin Sora, and see how he's pulling along?"

Naminé made her way back to the vampire's side. Yesterday's attempts at Sora's art had brought about a relatively good attempt at his Keyblade - however, after he had finished, he was familiar enough with his weapon that he recognized several proportional errors. The pencil had been tossed, the art had been crumpled, and Yazoo had spent ten minutes trying to get the paper out of his rather lengthy hair.

Now, Sora was working on a much different weapon. It was a rather basic sword, with a simple double-edged blade. The hilt arced towards the tip, and the handle ended with a bright pommel. A filled black circle meant to represent an onyx - and achieving the effect brilliantly - rested in the center of the hilt, and as Sora finished the lineart he picked up a ruby-red pencil and carved a beautiful, curled heart within the gem, ending either arm not quite connecting but with a brilliant spiral.

As he set down the ruby and reached for the gold, Naminé prompted into his ear, "Looks good."

Sora reacted with a shout, whirling into a spin and falling off his chair. Naminé laughed as he got to his feet. "Cut it out," he murmured. "You're lucky I didn't have my pencil on the paper."

Naminé shook her head. "I wouldn't have spoken if you still had your pencil on the paper," she informed him, reaching for the artwork. "This is really good. "Where did this come from?"

"I... don't know," Sora admitted. "I wanted to try something a little easier, and... I got that."

"It's good," Naminé mused, setting it down. As Sora got to his seat, Naminé pulled up her own, and he continued filling in the weapon with fluid colour.

+x+x+x+

Meanwhile, Riku was still training Kairi. They had moved on to the ring, facing each other; now Riku provided a specific attack for Kairi to perform based on his stance, position, or current action, and Kairi was to react swiftly, accordingly.

Kairi moved fast, acted fast, and pulled off every move without pause. When they were done the session, Kairi leaned against the ropes, grabbed the water bottle that she had brought with her, and drained half of it in one go. Making a searing mental note to bring more than one in the future, Kairi lowered it to see Riku looking around.

"What... are you... doing?" she panted.

"Nothing," Riku assured her absently. "Just... seeing how everyone's doing."

Kairi shook her head with a small smile on her face. "Riku... you're a... deadful... liar."

Riku turned to face her. "Okay, that's just creepy. How could you tell?"

"You... didn't... face me," she informed him. "And you... hesi...tated."

"Damn." Riku shook his head. "Professor Axe has got me on scout duty," he explained. "Scythe confronted him about the whole Thorn-Sessor issue and they made a deal. We've got a quarrel with three of his art clubbers during the fifth slot and I need to find combatants."

"Simple," Kairi prompted. "You... Loz... Thorn."

Riku shook his head. "SiC can't enter," he replied.

"Yuffie?" Kairi offered.

"Oh no," Riku insisted. "If I have to disarm her, Scythe is going to demand instant victory."

Kairi shook her head. "Just... prep her... first."

"...Maybe," Riku admitted. "Although..."

"Although... what?" Kairi panted.

Riku hesitated. "I was thinking... maybe... you?"

Kairi was surprised at that. "What?"

"I mean... you need a proper fight to train up," Riku admitted. "And chances are our other two will take victory anyways, so the results for your match won't even matter. So... what do you think?"

The question caused Kairi to turn it over for a moment, panting.

"Me... Loz... Yuffie," she prompted. "I'll... prep her... around... fourth."

"Thought you said Thorn?"

"Fifty... says that... Scythe has... Sessor... on the... fight."

"I have reason to down that, but alright." Riku took his hand-to-hand battle stance - it was similar to when he had Soul Eater, but his hands were splayed like claws. "Now let's try again. I'm not going to tell you what to do this time."

Kairi nodded and got to her feet, finishing off her water bottle. She took her own battle stance, one that she had based off of Sora's 'clawslinger' pose; right hand braced back, left before, body braced low.

+x+x+x+

Riku and Kairi trained through lunch hour so that Kairi would have the fourth-period time to rest up and disarm Yuffie. Sora and Naminé found themselves alone at lunch hour - and thankfully, Sessor and Thorn weren't clashing into the cafeteria this time.

"Hey, Kingdom." Sora turned as Yazoo approached him. He had his left hand on his Velvet Nightmare, and set his right on Sora's shoulder. "Are you ready for the fight, later today? Sessor is already off the walls, waiting for it."

Sora brushed the hand off his shoulder. "I'll handle it," he insisted, "alright?" Yazoo took off, and Sora sighed, palming his forehead.

Naminé noticed. "You're not looking forward to this, are you?"

"No," Sora admitted. "Scythe's going to have my ass if I don't try, though. I'll do my best."

"Do your best," Naminé echoed, her voice kind of low."

Sora noticed. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Naminé assured him hastily. "It's nothing."

Sora wasn't so sure, but he didn't press upon it. If Naminé had something she wanted to keep from him, she must have a good reason, and he wasn't going to force it from her.

+x+x+x+

By the end of fourth period, Riku had briefed Kairi on enough strategies to last her the rest of her time at Yokai Academy. She had also approached Yuffie and made sure she was weaponless while Riku informed Professor Axe of the combatant list.

As the bell for fifth period went off, Kairi approached the ring, bringing Yuffie with her, as Loz approached. The door flew open - it took two attempts, seeing as Thorn had sent the bag flying to block it - and Marluxia Scythe stepped in. Everyone in the fight club went quiet and turned towards him.

Lexaeus Axe stepped forward. "Present your combatants," he stated.

Marluxia nodded. "My first combatant - Sessor Threshold."

Sessor stepped inside, cracking his knuckles and wiring his arms down his back. Kairi felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Loz handing her two pieces of paper. The first was a fifty-dollar bill; the second was a sheet that read _From Riku_. Kairi smiled and pocketed the sheet.

Lexaeus looked him over. "His opponent - Loz Jenova."

Loz pulled his pile bunker off his arm and shoved it into Kairi's hands as he stepped forward. Kairi awkwardly held the heavy and extremely undwieldly weapon that was not meant to be held and looked towards Riku, who came forward and took it from her before taking off.

Marluxia nodded. "My second combatant - Yazoo Jenova."

Yazoo stepped inside, the holster for his Velvet Nightmare in his hands. He handed it to Thorn, who was closest the entrance. Thorn aimed it at him, but all he got was an empty _click._ Irritated, Thorn tossed it into the corner over the door.

Lexaeus sized up the gunslinger. "His opponent - Kairi Chikai."

Kairi gulped and stepped forward. Yazoo looked surprised, raising a silver eyebrow, but Kairi only took a deep breath and took a stance to mimic Riku's - right hand back by her eyes, left hand outstretched forward, fingers splayed.

Marluxia smirked. "My third combatant - Sora Kingdom."

The announcement caused Kairi to drop her stance as Sora stepped in, hands caught behind his back. Everyone looked at each other, and there was a lot of murmuring and whispering at the entrance of the warrior who had taken down the three Jenova brothers and Riku Kurai.

Lexaeus was likewise surprised. "One moment, please. Riku, come here."

Riku stepped forward, and he and Lexaeus spoke quiet for a moment. There was a heated round of inaudible whispering that looked like a ventriloquist and his puppet arguing, and Lexaeus raised his hand at Riku threateningly; Riku pulled away, sighed, and shook his head. "Fine," he murmured.

He stepped up to Yuffie. "You're relieved of combat," he whispered. "Pick up your weapons and get out of here."

Lexaeus spoke. "His opponent - Thorn Darke."

Kairi was surprised at that. Thorn whooped and slammed a punch into his bag that sent it flying off the chain, and he stepped up where Yuffie was supposed to be, bracing his left palm against the fist of his left hand.

_Damn,_ Kairi murmured. _This can't be good._

"Choose your battle," Lexaeus commanded of Marluxia.

Marluxia replied, "Freestyle, in the boxing ring."

+x+x+x+

The first round had Sessor floored. Loz was a heavy hitter with or without his pile bunker, and he moved so fast that Sessor couldn't land a hit. He could block a hit, but that usually resulted in him skidding to the ropes, in which case the next block would result in a slingshot effect that resulted in an unblocked hit.

Loz picked him up by the shirt and punched him in the face, knocking him down again and earning some gasps of surprise from the other fight clubbers. "Done yet?" the musclehead prompted.

Sessor's nose was bleeding as he nodded, scrambling to the edge of the ring. Loz smirked and leapt over the edge before turning to Kairi. Riku had returned the pile bunker to her as a precaution, and she held it out to him without hesitation. Loz clipped it onto his arm and stepped off.

"Round one to the fight club," Marluxia admitted grudgingly.

Lexaeus nodded. "Round two combatants, please enter the ring."

Kairi got into the ring, sliding between the ropes as Yazoo rolled under them and got to his feet, his hair drifting. He raised a hand towards Kairi like he was looking down the sights of his Velvet Nightmare, and Kairi took her clawslinger stance, body low.

Riku hit the bell.

Yazoo rushed forward, but Kairi stepped to the side and bounced off the ropes. She grabbed the back of his jacket and spun, dragging him back, but Yazoo recovered quickly and grabbed her by the wrist, whirling and hurling her into the air. Kairi twisted her body as her fall slowed, seeing Yazoo readying to strike. When she fell, it would be impossible to evade - so she grabbed a nearby rafter with one hand, dangling from her fingertips.

Everyone stopped.

Kairi was surprised the rafters were that low. She hooked her other hand on it and secured her grip, swinging to build momentum. She released at a straight downward angle, arcing into a flying kick with a lot more momentum than she had expected.

Yazoo raised his hand to strike.

Kairi twisted, arcing her other foot for a double-drill effect. It secured her intentions; her fall changed that millimetre that meant Yazoo's strike only augmented her momentum, rather than land a direct blow, and she loosed a one-two kick that had Yazoo stumbling back.

The red-haired girl gasped for a moment. She hadn't expected the attack to work that well.

Then Yazoo smirked - practically unharmed. "Not bad," he admitted.

He rushed forward, and Kairi ducked under the direct helm-blow that he had gone for. She swept at his legs, hoping his straight-body stance would decrease his stability, but Yazoo arced into a backflip over the strike, landing a hit on her back that caused her to hit the ring hard. Yazoo stepped back as Kairi struggled to get to her feet; she grabbed the rope, and Yazoo reacted by kicking her arm, sending her twisting and hitting the floor again.

"Do you surrender this round?" he asked. "Or will you put yourself through more?"

Kairi gripped her arm and glanced at Riku, who shook his head - _Give up, it won't matter_.

The trainee got to her feet. "Round two to the art club," she announced.

Yazoo smirked and turned, sweeping under the ropes undamaged as Kairi stumbled out of the ring.

Lexaeus glared. "Round three combatants, please enter the ring," he prompted.

Sora stepped into the ring fluidly. Thorn, who had been up to something in the corner of the fight gym, now approached the ring and took a stance with his hands raised.

Riku hit the bell.

Thorn rushed forward with an open-hand cutting-blow, but Sora swept around it. He spun with a kick, which Sora ducked under, then leapt into a floor-palm that Sora stepped away from. Seeing his failed attempts, he stepped back.

"Well?" he prompted. "Your turn."

Sora shook his head. "No," he prompted. "I insist."

He got the reply of Thorn swinging a two-handed _clap_ that echoed throughout the room, which Sora ducked under; then followed it through with an overhead blow that he rolled away from.

The scent of smoke caught Kairi's nose. She coughed lightly and turned to see something burning in the corner.

"Fire!"

Everything came to a stop but Thorn, who was in the middle of a sliding blow, and Sora, who was in the air over it.

Marluxia and Lexaeus swore simultaneously. "Everyone out!" they both ordered.

Kairi took off ahead of everyone else, quickly followed by Yuffie and a bag full of kunai, shuriken, and chakrams. Lexaeus and Marluxia were next in line, followed by Riku and the rest of the fight club.

+x+x+x+

Sora tried to get out of the ring, but Thorn stopped him with a backhand blow. The strike sent him flying over the ropes and into the wall, and Thorn smirked, leaping out of the ring.

"No, no, no," Thorn insisted. "I'm not gonna let you leave undefeated. But don't worry - I'm not gonna call you on the out."

His body started to ripple, and Sora saw his mane start to shift into a row of horns.

"After all, fight better in an open battlefield..."

It was then that the smoking flame reached the first fire shower; and a spray of water tore from the emergency pipe. One by one, they burst, each one loosing a flow of pure, clean water.

"..._Vampire!_"

The shower hit Sora; and he gave a shout of torment as energy began to spark around him.

+x+x+x+

The entire fight club was spread out around the hall. Marluxia and Lexaeus were engaged in conversation near the door, both agreeing that they couldn't call this a victory to either club and trying to decide what to do about it. Kairi was right next to the art club door, and although Yuffie had been by her side at first, she had left to stash her weaponry.

A tap on her shoulder caused Kairi to turn to see a familiar blond figure there. "Naminé?"

"Kairi, where's Sora?" the witch demanded.

"I don't know," Kairi replied. "A fire went off in the fight club halfway through his fight with Thorn, and he must have been caught up in the jumble."

Naminé's eyes widened. "Damn it, he knows!" she exclaimed. "Thorn must have found out about Sora! He trapped him inside until the fire showers go off!"

Kairi was confused. "What's the problem?"

The question shocked Naminé. "What do you mean, what's the problem?" she asked horrifically. "How can that not be a problem?"

"I don't see-" Kairi was interrupted by Naminé grabbing her by the shoulders and looking her in the eye.

"Kairi, a vampire's powers are _drained by water!_ A _continued torrent_ can_ kill them!_"

+x+x+x+

Sora hit the wall roughly. Thorn was now huge and deadly. His strikes could cut through boulders, and it was a miracle that Sora was still alive - the shower had his vampyric energy sparking around him like a discharging EMP bomb.

"What'sa matter, Kingdom?" Thorn taunted. "Can't even raise a _hand_ against me, can ya?!"

It was then that the door swung open, and both of them turned to see Kairi at the door.

"Sora!"

The vampire was shocked. "K-Kairi..." He tried to get to his feet, light shimmering around his hand - but the water was too heavy for him to call his Keyblade.

Thorn huffed and stepped forward, into the light. "Now you're up, huh?"

Kairi took one look at Thorn and _screamed._

The fighter was now _huge_. His head blocked a fire shower if he stood directly under it, and his skin was like rock. His mane had been turned into a line of horns down his neck and spine, and veins of obsidian shone out all over him. There was no way something that big could be contained in a human form - yet here he was, and it was the exact same voice, and Kairi had no doubt that this was still Thorn Darke.

**_Bite-Size Monster Encyclopedia: Troll  
_**_Habitat: Northern Europe. Appearance varies depending on country of origin. As a species, they are warlike giants who conceal themselves in hilly terrain to waylay hapless travelers._

Thorn raised a hand and rushed it down at Kairi; but she leapt out of the way, the shockwave knocking her off her feet. The landing sent a jolt through her, but she got to her feet and scrambled towards Sora side as fast as she could, hoping Thorn wouldn't make another swing.

He did.

The massive fighter swept his hand towards Kairi, dragging bags and weights towards her, and Kairi leapt out of the way as it all slammed into the corner where he had lit the fire. Everything tore through the wall, opening a gap to outside. Anything that was flying towards the flames bounced away, and Kairi knew he hadn't done this himself - someone else was lending him a hand.

She ran up to Sora, who looked positively weak. "Sora... Sora!"

"Kairi..." He shook his head. "Run..."

Kairi shook her head. "No! You'll die if I do!"

Thorn saw them. "Aw, playin' all lovey-dovey, eh?!" He stepped forward.

It didn't take a genius to realize the situation; Kairi caught Sora's shoulder and pulled him close, pressing his head against her neck.

"Bite."

Sora didn't object; and as he sank his fangs in, and Thorn surged a strike forward, Kairi reached for Sora's crown necklace and pulled.

The strike missed by inches when a flare of energy tore through the air.

When it faded, Sora was on his feet - but his hair had gone light-to-dark on its way to the tip, and the sparks of energy were starting to pull towards him. Kairi dragged him towards the gap that had been torn in the wall, and he let her lead him, pushing Thorn's hand out of the way as he did so.

Thorn was angry. "Get back here!" he shouted, chasing after them. "That's my win!"

Kairi managed to get Sora out from under the shower as Thorn landed another wall-cracking blow. Sora used it to his advantage by grabbing Thorn by the finger and pulling him through the shower of rubble, skidding him across the earth.

He leapt into the air, arced into a flip, and slammed a falling kick into the tip of Thorn's spine, tearing a shout from the massive fighter.

Kairi stepped towards him, crown in hand, as he leapt off the troll. The door in the fight gym opened, and Sora led her behind what remained of the wall so they wouldn't be seen.

He took the crown from her. "Well served, snack tray."

Kairi smacked him.

Sora growled and retaliated with a sweeping kick that knocked Kairi onto her back. "Watch it."

He locked the crown onto his chain and closed his eyes as the changes started to fade.

When Kairi was certain that he didn't look like a vampire anymore, she started towards the hole in the wall to see Lexaeus putting the fire out with what looked like a massive battleaxe-esque tomahawk. By driving the thick weapon into the base of the flame, it completely extinguished the flare, not even wavered by whatever barrier had been put around it.

"Miss Chikai, what happened here?" he demanded.

"Thorn started a fire," Kairi explained. "He used it as a distraction, so everyone would leave and he would be free to turn into..." She trailed off and pointed at the unconscious, hulking figure that lay just outside the broken wall. "...That."

Lexaeus saw the unconscious Thorn and stepped forward, keeping his tomahawk off the ground with one hand. He set his hand against the troll's neck, confirming a pulse.

"Everyone is dismissed."

+x+x+x+

Because of the destruction that Thorn Darke had caused, as well as his reasons for doing so, both the fight club and the art club were temporarily shut down. Sessor Threshold and Thorn were both punished for the quarrel that had gone on, agreeing to keep their differences at a truce.

The next day, roughly fourth period, Kairi was wandering the halls, lost in thought. The 'clawslinger' Sora's words still echoed in her mind. _Snack tray... is that all I am to him? Just a supply of blood?_

"Miss Chikai?"

Kairi turned to see Professor Leonheart approaching her. "Oh. Hello, Professor."

"I was wondering if you had selected a club to join yet," he prompted. "You and Mr. Kingdom are the only ones that haven't provided your choices."

The question caused Kairi to pause. "No," she admitted. "I haven't yet."

Leon sighed. "Then I was hoping you would join my newspaper club," he prompted. "No one seems to give a damn, and we've only got one member, yet."

"Well," Kairi mused, "I guess it wouldn't be... too bad..."

"We'd love to join, Professor Leonheart."

Kairi spun to see Sora stepping towards them. He looked positively upbeat. "None of the other clubs have provided us with anything but trouble, and something like running a newspaper can't _possibly_ cause trouble."

Leon smirked. "Then you haven't seen our last few years," he mused, "but if you'll join, that's great."

Sora nodded, and Leon left, leaving Kairi to turn to him. "Sora, what...?"

"Sorry I'm late," he admitted. "The shock-drop effect yesterday had me snoozing straight through my alarm." He hooked his hands behind his head. "So... you're not gonna change my mind, right?"

Kairi smiled. "Of course not." Her smile fell.

Sora was confused. "What?"

A sigh. "You _know_ Riku and Naminé are going to show up the second they find out."

* * *

Draco: Yep. Newspaper club. That's another thing you can't run a Rosario+Vampire fanfiction without. Not anything good, anyways. Thanks to all my readers and reviewers! Again, sorry for the delay, but this is my biggest chapter yet!

For those of you who don't know, the Rosario+Vampire manga is divided into volumes of four chapters, and I wanted to kind of keep that effect. This is Chapter 4, now it's time to get back to Betwixt and keep working on Wind and Water. Sorry, guys!


	5. Ante Up

Draco: IKEDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA ! YOU CLIFFHANGER-ED ME AGAAAAAAIIIIIN!

If you are not ready to be whaled on by cliffhanger after irritating, clawtip-dangling cliffhanger (complete with dimensional sword - and no, I'm not talking about Odin), do not read Rosario + Vampire.

Sorry for my huge-ass delay, guys - I've been playing Final Fantasy III and it's AWESOME! Funny how bigass birds with lightning and vampires that suck blood for comedy go well together. As the title implies, we're going back into characters from other Final Fantasies, and some _within_ the Kingdom Hearts series, rather than VIIers like the Jenova brothers. Again, apologies for any personality inaccuracies, a wiki can only give you so much info and they don't get that much facetime in the KH series.

Oh, don't think Kadaj and his gang are done yet. Ohhh, no. Claiming a few more volumes of Rosario+Vampire has given me some more BSME entries, and I intend to keep it up, so I'll decide what they are sooner or later.

Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Ante Up**

As Kairi had suspected, she and Sora were not alone in joining Professor Leonheart's newspaper club. The moment Riku and Naminé caught wind that the two of them were joining the art club, they had dropped their places as fight club SiC and art club SiC and enrolled in Leon's club.

It was the fourth of five days of club activities before things returned, and as Sora and Kairi stepped into Leon's homeroom they weren't surprised to see Riku and Naminé charging in after them. Under normal circumstances, they would have been surprised to see Naminé and Riku hand in hand, but given that they just _barely_ skidded in before the bell went off, it was logical that a little werewolf speed would come in handy.

Leon was already in his seat as the four of them took theirs. "Alright, everyone," he prompted. "If everyone is seated - let's get started with running a newspaper."

'Everyone' was a bit of a stretch. He was talking to Kairi, Sora, Naminé, Riku, and a whole lot of empty desks.

"Um, Professor Leonheart?" Kairi prompted. "Is this class supposed to have so few members?"

"It's true that less members means more work," Leon admitted, "but you needn't worry." Footsteps coming from the hall caused him to turn towards the door. "And speaking of worry..."

Kairi heard them too - a light, swift tapping on the floor outside - and she turned to the door as it swung open.

"...You should try not to be so late... Mr. Gabianni."

The figure who waked in looked almost regal - pale white skin, silver hair that flayed up, white boots with cobalt trim and a shining lapis emblem at their peak. He had a long black coat with golden trim draped over his shoulders, obscuring his garments if one was looking at him any way but straight-on. Sitting in one hand was a single, luminescent white flower.

"My apologies," he prompted. "I was caught up around the area of the art room." He turned towards the others. "You must be my fellow newspaper workers?" he prompted.

Everyone nodded.

A smile rose on his face as he turned to face them full-on. "I am Setzer Gabianni. Your editor."

_"_Editor?" Kairi had to admit he had the look of someone in charge; a lilac shirt and sleek black pants, a purple sash around his waist. He had a black leather belt with a silver skull buckle, and his jacket was pinned to his shirt by a pair of silver skull pins. His eyes were shimmering violet, and his face was littered with scars.

In his left hand, low at his side, was a hand of cards.

"Something wrong?" Setzer asked. A light smile rose on his face. "Perhaps this will tide you over." He tossed the flower towards Kairi, who caught it fumblingly.

Sora, Riku, and Naminé blinked twice.

"Setzer has been working on the school newspaper for a while," Leon informed them. "He's taken the role of SiC this year. If there's anything that any of you need to know, he is _in_ the know. Now..."

A sound like a lion's roar echoed throughout the room. Kairi and Naminé ducked under their desks while Sora and Riku got to their feet, hands ready to call their weapons. Setzer sighed, turning to Leon, who reached into his pocket and drew out a cellphone. The roar started up again before he flicked the phone open. Sora and Riku sat down awkwardly, while Kairi and Naminé rose from under their desks, equally awkwardly.

"This is Leon." A pause. "Again? Sweet Sorceress..." There was a shouting from the other end. "Alright, I'm coming." He pulled his phone away and flicked it closed. "I've got to go," he said to the club. "Setzer, would you run the meeting for me?"

"Of course," Setzer assured him.

Sora turned to him. "Professor Leonheart?" he prompted. "What's the matter?"

Leon turned to the wall. "The school combatants are being rowdy, since the fight club has been shut down," he explained. "They need me to help..."

He pulled his gun-hilted sword from the wall.

"...settle things."

He braced the sword across his back.

Kairi turned to him. "Wait, you can't be...!"

It was too late. Leon was already out the door.

Setzer reached under his jacket. "Now then," he mused, "you might be asking yourselves - what is this? Copy-and-paste? But it is not that simple." Here he drew out a newspaper - the title of which, _Yokai Times_, was bold in the top corner - and set it upon Leon's desk. "Yes, we are here to publish a newspaper. But it is not for the faint of heart. First we must uncover something of interest - a dark rumor, a deadly tale, a story worth spreading."

Here he raised his gaze to the club members. "And we must look into it - no matter the risk. Understand? Whether it means crawling across the forest floor, or diving to the waters below the cliffs, we will take the gamble! When you walk into this room... your soul belongs to the life of the news."

Everyone went still... and slowly nodded.

"Good," he mused. "Once we have the story - that's when you can put down your claws and flaunt your talents. If you have art - pick up a pencil! If you have photos - develop your film! If you have order - design a layout! This is no place for slackers, but it _is_ a place for your talents to flourish. Make this newspaper something people _want_ to read!"

"Art?" Naminé reached for her sketchbook. "That I can do!"

Setzer smiled. "See?" he prompted. "But save your images for _after_ we have a story. Today, I want all of you to go around Yokai Academy and find something worth a newspaper article."

"Understood!"

+x+x+x+

"Can I ask you something?"

Kairi turned to Sora as they started out of the school building. "What is it?"

"Is there a particular reason you wanted to enter the fight club?" he asked.

The question caused Kairi to look away. "Well... I don't want you to always be fighting my battles for me," Kairi replied. "I mean, I know I can never be... _your_ level, but... I want to hold my own."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Hold your...?" An idea rose on his face. "Wait, that's it!" He turned and took off.

"Huh?" Kairi turned towards him. "Where are you...?"

"Come with me," Sora prompted, beckoning her forward. "I have a solution."

+x+x+x+

Kairi found herself led to what looked like a garage. Sora shuffled in his pockets for a while before throwing his hands into the air and muttering, "Screw it." With a flash of light, his Keyblade was in his hand, causing Kairi to pull back as he tapped the handle of the garage door with it. A loud _chrunk_ emerged, and Sora grabbed the bottom of the door and swung it up.

"That's your motorbike," Kairi observed, looking at the wolf-ride vehichle that sat there.

Sora shook his head. "Not mine," he corrected. "But since he lent me his bike, I wonder if..." He stepped up to the bike and took his seat, running his hands over the surface. He reached for the handlebars, embedded in the front of the bike, and twisted the one on his left like it was a throttle.

The sides of the bike's front swung out, revealing six slots. Kairi gasped, stepping away as Sora sighed, looking disappointed.

"Those are..."

Sora nodded. "Sword storage," he confirmed. "Cloud's got a six-piece weapon. He can use anything from a light two-hander to a massive buster sword. I thought he might have had the pieces in here, but..." His face lit up. "Hello!"

He reached forward and drew out two small blades. They looked more like daggers than swords, but they still had fairly sharp edges. "Here," Sora mused, catching one by the dull edge, "try this."

Kairi hesitantly reached forward and took the weapon from him. It wasn't as heavy as Kairi had expected of a weapon, but still quite weighty for its size. She pulled back and held it before her, considering. "This could work," Kairi admitted.

Sora nodded. He handed her the other one, which Kairi accepted - she had to admit that it felt a little easier to be carrying two rather than one. Then he twisted the left handlebar again, causing the slots to close. He kicked back, causing a similar compartment to open behind him on his left - this one had a few boxes in it, including a first aid kit. There was a rack on the side of the compartment, and that was what Sora reached for, pulling out what looked like a harness for something.

"What's that?" Kairi asked.

"Multi-piece sheath," Sora explained. "It straps on your back so the swords are about at waist level. Takes a bit to get used to, but it should work for you."

He tossed it to Kairi, causing her to drop the blades at her sides and catch it with a backwards stumble. It strapped on somewhat like a backpack, with a few extra fastens and tighter straps for some more stability, and Kairi picked up the small blades and slipped them in first try.

Sora gave her a once-over. "Looks good on you," he prompted. "Don't get too used to it, though. The moment I get back to Cloud, he's going to want the whole setup back - sheath and all."

Kairi nodded. "I think I can make it work for now," she confirmed.

"Good." Sora closed the storage and hopped off the bike. "Now, let's go find us a story, shall we?"

+x+x+x+

"Find anything?"

Naminé turned to see Riku stepping towards her. She shook her head. "Nothing yet," she replied. "Hey, have you seen Sora and Kairi?"

"Hey, guys!"

Riku rolled his eyes. "Speak of the devil," he murmured, turning, "and..."

He stopped mid-sentence.

Kairi was walking towards them. But there was a multitude of dark leather straps wrapped across her torso, supporting something on her back. A pair of handles emerged from behind her, and Riku had a feeling that it wasn't just for looks.

The werewolf quickly realized he had his mouth open and shut it rapidly. "Kairi...?"

"You guys find anything?" Kairi asked.

Riku made an up-and-down gesture with his hand.

Kairi raised an eyebrow. "What...? Oh, you like?" She reached back and drew one of the swords Sora had given her. "Yeah, I figured I'd pick up something for battle, seeing as everyone else in this school is bladed in some form or another." She reached back and sheathed it. "I meant a story," she corrected. "You guys find anything worth looking into?"

The question caused Riku to shake his head and straighten himself out. "Actually, I did find something interesting," he admitted. "You guys know any Greek mythology?"

Naminé shook her head. "Sorry, I'm not too keen..."

"You mean, like, Artemis, Athena, Zeus, those guys?" Kairi asked. "Or... Diana, Minerva, Jupiter?" She stopped herself. "No, that's the Roman myths. Artemis, Athena, Zeus - those are their Greek forms."

Riku's mouth was open again.

Kairi blushed lightly. "Sorry," she murmured, "my last school was kind of... um... mythology-heavy. Anyways, moving on?"

Again did Riku straighten his mind with a shake of his head. "So," he resumed, "I've heard a rumour that near the cliffs around the bus stop, there have been sightings of various Greek figures. So far I've heard... a female youth with a bow... a queenlike woman with a tome... a girl in a long flowing dress - I actually heard that one a lot..."

"Artemis, Athena, Aphrodite," Kairi counted. "Any others?"

"That's all for now," Riku replied. "All the ones I heard, though... they were all about females."

"Found a story, then?"

Everyone turned to see Setzer stepping towards them. "Well, I say we look into it," he mused. "If it's something like that, it'll make a great article!"

Kairi raised a hand. "Hold on," she prompted. "Where's Sora? He was with me just a moment ago..."

"Sora?" Setzer prompted. "I think I saw him by the vending machines..."

He didn't get any further before Kairi dashed past him. Setzer turned and had opened his mouth to speak when Naminé stepped past him.

Riku was surprised. "Naminé?" he called. "You're going after him?"

"You said by the cliffs," Naminé replied. "Sora's bike went in the water at the start of the school year and he got splashed trying to get it out. It's going to take forever to get Sora to go anywhere near that place."

She took off, and Riku only paused a moment before following suit.

Setzer only chuckled as he turned away, drawing out his hand of cards as he started towards the bus stop.

"Time to ante up."

+x+x+x+

"No! I'm not going!"

Sora was being more difficult than Kairi had expected. They had found him at the vending machine with a can of tomato juice in his hand. Feeling almost insulted, Kairi had told him about their rumour. Sora had then proceeded to hide in Leon's room under a few of the desks, and was stubbornly refusing to come with.

And that was considering the fact that Naminé had spiderwebs around his legs in an attempt to drag him out.

"You really have a thing for web, don't you?" Kairi mused to Naminé, who was sketching her image. The web was trying to pull Sora towards the door, but he was putting up quite a fight - he had managed to get the window open and was hanging onto the sill. Riku, meanwhile, was leaning against the door

Naminé nodded, shading her art in as she tried to channel the magic further. "I got the idea from a human movie I went to before my freshman year. Pity the series had to reboot with a new actor." She scowled, and Kairi could have sworn the web got tighter. "Anyways, the reason spiderweb is such a great witch gimmick is because I can form it without any serious effort."

Riku raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah. The spiderweb I use just takes form from the air around me. Here, watch." She added a piece on her image of Sora on the window - a basic web shape across the back of his hand. "Gather dust, apply moisture, let the air flow through it to give it form and-"

"AAAAAAAAAAH! GETITOFF GETITOFF GETITOFF!"

Sora's shout caused Kairi to turn to see Sora release the sill. The tension on the web around his legs caused him to hit the ground, skip across the floor like a stone on water, and impact with the wall outside the door.

Naminé smiled. "Point... proven."

The vampire got to his feet, dusting himself off and pulling the web off his hand. A short delay ensued in him trying to consequently shake the web off his fingers, claw it out of his hair, and awkwardly rub it off on the wall.

"I won't do it!" Sora insisted. "I've had enough bad experiences with water lately, can't you give a vamp a break?!"

Kairi sighed, setting a hand against her forehead. "You know what? Fine."

Sora raised his gaze. "Huh?"

"You don't want to help us out?" Kairi prompted. "Fine. But you better pull your weight when we get to work on the actual paper." She drew out one of the blades on her back and looked at the handle. "What's this gear, here?" she asked, beckoning to what looked like a design on the hilt.

"Oh, the handle folds in along the back of the blade," Sora replied. "Here, let me see that?" Kairi tossed the sword to him and drew out the other one for comparison as he grasped it by the dull edge. "You just pull it back, like so-" here he bent the handle back, causing the gear to circle around before closing in on the handle, "-and lock the gear in place." He pushed the gear in, causing a _click_ from the joint.

Kairi tried for herself, pulling it off without to much difficulty. "What's the point?" she asked.

"Keep the handle out of the way when he adds it to the six-piece," Sora replied. "Plus, the thing wouldn't make a bad throwing weapon, and you don't want to give your foes an easy handle to grab."

"Alright." Kairi pulled out the handle and slipped the sword into the sheath. She stepped up to him, pulling the other one out of his hands as she unfolded and sheathed it. "Naminé, Riku, come on."

She left, witch and werewolf behind her, leaving Sora alone as he stepped back into the news club room.

+x+x+x+

"This the place?"

Riku nodded. They were nearly at the bus stop, at the cliff's edge. There was a narrow, back-and-forth path down the cliffside leading to a small cave.

"Hope you're ready," Riku prompted, turning to Kairi. "Whatever's down here... well, you heard Setzer, didn't you?"

Kairi nodded, reaching back for her blades, and made her way down the path.

A mist of darkness wrapped around and extended from Riku's hand, and Soul Eater appeared in it as he and Naminé followed suit.

+x+x+x+

"What have you been up to?"

A girl with wavy blonde hair stopped shifting across her weapons. "I could ask you the same," she replied.

In the shadows, his figure was hard to see, but his hair was shimmering silver. "I was wondering what you'd been up to down here," he mused. "Who would have figured that you'd be up to something like this?"

The girl sighed. "So why are you down here?" she asked. "Don't even think about bribing me to get me out of here."

"What's that about?" her confrontor mused. "I would never stoop to that!"

A clatter of dislodged stone from outside caused him to turn away, towards the tunnel of the cave. The girl sighed. "Get out of here," she snapped. "I've had enough trouble without you barging in to get in the way."

"Really?" he mused. "And all I wanted was to lend you a hand..."

Only now did the girl turned to face him, her fingernails sharpening.

"I said get out... Setzer."

She stepped forward, a dark swirl in her eyes.

"Or would you rather make yourself useful?"

+x+x+x+

"What is that cave for?" Kairi asked. A pebble under her foot came loose as she picked her way down the path, back against the cliff face.

"Who knows," Riku mused, right behind her - or, rather, beside her. "It was here long before I showed up. Maybe it used to be a club hangout. Or it could have just showed up during a quake or something."

Naminé shook her head. "I don't think so. I can feel someone's presence down there."

Kairi narrowed her gaze and continued down the path, soon arriving at the cave entrance. It was a long tunnel, with torches lining the edges. As Riku and Naminé came up behind her, Kairi gulped and braced her blades at her sides.

"Let me know if you see any branching paths," she said to Riku.

Riku nodded. "I will."

Naminé drew out her sketchbook and braced her pencil against it.

The three of them made their way forward, through the cave.

+x+x+x+

_You fool._

Sora raised his gaze suddenly. He had dozed off in his chair, and he glanced around, looking for who had called him. "Who's there?" he asked.

_It's you_.

"Oh, me." Sora palmed his forehead, lowering his gaze to his crown necklace - the cross of his rosario was shining out on it. This time he heard the voice coming from nowhere. "Sorry, you woke me up and I couldn't tell who was talking."

_What were you doing? Letting them go off on their own like that. And Kairi of all people._

Sora glared at the crown. "Yes, because I'm going to go anywhere _near_ the water after what happened at the fight club."

_That was a trap. This is a cave. How-_

"I don't know who's down there," Sora added. "Maybe they've got a pipe system set up."

_None of that changes the fact that you're letting a human girl go down there with nothing but a pair of daggers, a witch with a pencil, and a careless werewolf. This is Yokai Academy, braniac. She doesn't stand a chance._

Sora was quiet for a long moment.

+x+x+x+

Kairi shuddered as a cool draft brushed across her skin. "How long does this cave go?" she murmured.

"Don't worry," Naminé insisted.

"I have every reason to be worried," Kairi murmured, holding the twin swords steady.

Riku caught her shoulder. "Hold on," he insisted. "There's someone up ahead."

No sooner had he said that than the torches along the walls went out for quite a ways. There were still a few lit further ahead, but the wrap of darkness was enough to stop Kairi in her tracks.

Someone stepped past the torches so that his body was simply a silhouette.

"Who's there?" Kairi demanded.

Riku stepped forward. "Reveal yourself!"

A scratching emerged from behind Kairi, and she could tell Naminé was working what she could in the dark.

The silhouette angled his head tauntingly.

And a stone hit him in the back of it.

"Ow!"

Kairi knew that voice. "Setzer?!"

The torches now flared up around them, revealing the news club SiC standing there with a hand on the back of his head. Riku stepped back. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.

Setzer narrowed his gaze. He raised his hand, revealing a hand of cards - which he promptly threw at the party. Riku dodged. The shots missed Kairi, although they did brush her neck, and Naminé dropped low as she ran her pencil across her paper. Setzer then turned and dashed away.

"Oh no you don't!" Riku called.

Before he could run, Kairi caught his hand. "Wait, Riku!" she insisted. "Don't tackle him yourself!"

Riku huffed. "Please," he mused. "Aside from Sora, the only one in this school who can take me down is..." He trailed off, and a shudder ran across his body at the memory. "But if you insist, then don't stop. Let's go."

He stepped forward, Kairi and Naminé behind him.

+x+x+x+

"This is the place, right?" Sora mused to himself. The rosario didn't respond, but Sora could tell; it was the same place he had dropped his bike, and he could see the cave that the others had mentioned.

His Keyblade was in his hand in a moment, and slowly, he made his way down the cliffside. The moment he was at the cavern, he heard the shout of pain and reacted.

"Setzer?" This was suspicious. This was most definitely suspicious.

He broke into a run, dashing further into the cave.

+x+x+x+

The trio of Riku, Kairi, and Naminé caught up with Setzer before too long. His response was to throw another hand of cards at them; though the group dodged again, this time it cut Kairi's hair when she leaned out of the way - after brushing neck and this time stinging like hell. She reached for her neck and could tell that it was a cut - and it had already been bleeding for some time, given that the bloodstain went down to her shoulder already.

Setzer broke into a run, leaving Kairi to follow suit - and Riku and Naminé to do so as well.

Not long after the second toss of cards, the group found themselves in a wide-open room, lined with torches. Setzer was standing in the middle of the room, and now he turned back to the team, cards in each hand.

Riku smirked, dashing ahead of the group as Soul Eater sparked into his hand. "Nowhere left for you to run!"

The editor only smirked. "Who said anything about running?" he asked. "I'd like to introduce you to a friend of mine. News club..."

Another figure stepped out of a tunnel at the far end of the room.

"Meet Artemis."

Kairi gasped.

Standing there was a youthly female with pale skin in silver folds. In her left hand was a bow - on her back was a quiver full of arrows. She drew one of those arrows, revealing a head like a starflash, which would be a _serious_ problem if the shot came anywhere near. Her hair was a very bright shade of brown, and her eyes were a dark green.

"Son of a bitch," Kairi murmured.

The archer nocked the arrow and lined it up, aiming straight at Kairi.

Kairi drew her blades and raised them, ready to dodge or deflect the moment that wood moved.

The string was released.

The arrow shot forward.

And a silver blur rushed forward, beating it to the ground.

Everyone yelped. "_SORA?!_"

The vampire was standing there with his Keyblade in hand, the shaft gleaming in the torchlight. His hands were trembling, and his muscles were tense.

Kairi was shocked. "How... what are you doing here?" she demanded. "How did you find us?"

Sora didn't respond for a long moment. His body had gone still, his gaze low. Riku saw this and stepped past him, brandishing Soul Eater in hand. "Who are you," he demanded of the archer, "and what are you doing here?"

The huntress huffed and raised her right hand, beckoning towards the quartet. Setzer drew another hand of cards and threw them at the group. Riku rushed forward, beating each card to the ground with a speedy blur before sidestepping past a single, oversized ace that was flung at him. Kairi blocked it on one of the swords Sora had given her as Riku grabbed Setzer's arm and raised it threateningly.

"Second-in-Command, my ass," he growled. "What the hell are you..."

A touch on his shoulder caused him to turn with a menacing glare as the archer approached him. The two locked gazes for a moment.

Then Kairi gasped as Riku released Setzer's hand and stepped away.

"Son of a _bitch_," Kairi muttered.

The huntress turned towards her. Slowly, she began to step towards them, her body moving swiftly - and she was aiming right at Sora as she did so.

"I am best known for my skill on the hunt, my profession with a weapon in hand." Her voice was like syrup, soft and drawing. "But one thing that none have ever known is my ability to force obedience from any man who tries to harm me. How else have I remained what I am?"

She set her hand on his face. "Or do you need... _another_ demonstration?"

Sora tried to lash out with his weapon. The huntress stepped to the side and set her hand on the shaft as she caught his chin and raised his head. His eyes were closed, but slowly, they started to waver from that position.

"Come now," she insisted. "You don't need to fight me."

Slowly, Sora's eyes began to open - and the moment he caught the archer's gaze, the Keyblade faded from his hands.

Kairi pulled away in shock, blades raised. Sora stood straight and turned towards them, causing Naminé to give a yelp. Sora's eyes had fogged over, shimmering with flecks of gold. The archer smiled and stepped away, drawing another arrow that she levelled on Kairi.

A vibration coursed through the air, and Kairi saw the dust in the air gathering around Sora's face. It formed a distinct shape across his cheek, and water began to gather around it. It lifted as though caught in the breeze as the moisture gathered on the dust formation, and the next thing Kairi knew, there was a perfect spider's web latched on Sora's left cheek.

Sora only reached up and pulled it off, not even bothering to brush it off his hand.

The archer raised her hand. "Now, then," she mused, "why don't we see what you can do?"

Riku shot forward, and before Kairi had a chance to react, he had a hand around her neck, lifting her into the air. She tried to lash out, landing a kick on his chest, and pushed away as his grip loosened. Another strand of web formed from the ceiling, lifting him off the ground, and Kairi scrambled away with her blades in hand.

The werewolf only lashed out at the strand with his blade, knocking him to the ground; then he turned towards Naminé, who flinched weakly. He whirled Soul Eater in hand and rushed forward, striking out and leaving a wicked cut across her arm. Naminé screamed, falling back as Riku caught it and impaled it on her dress, catching her against the wall. Riku had her trapped against the wall, pulling her notebook from her hand and tossing it over his shoulder.

Kairi was so distracted by this exchange that she didn't notice Setzer showing up behind her until a hand caught her wrist. She spun, but that only proved a problem when a hand of cards flew from his hand, pinning her to the stone like paper. One swept against the low of her cheek, cutting the skin and drawing blood. Again.

She saw Sora standing next to the archer, and he seemed to waver in place. But the huntress only caught her hand on his cheek again, causing him to turn. "I like you," she insisted. "Come with me. I'll keep you around." A swift breeze seemed to catch her features as she turned and started out of the battlefield, Sora following.

_She's got him under some kind of... spell!_ Kairi realized, trying to move. The cards, however, had her thoroughly pinned as Setzer came closer. _I've got to... get through to him! Break the spell... somehow!_

She couldn't move her arms, but the dagger-swords were still in her hands - and that gave her an idea.

With one swift movement, she popped the gear-lock on the one in her left hand and folded the blade along the handle until the tip hit her arm.

And she flicked it down, impaling it in Setzer's foot.

He gave a howl and stumbled back, causing the archer to turn towards them. Sora did so as well, wavering in place - and Kairi realized she had pierced her arm with the turn. _The scent of blood - it draws him! If I can just get one good cut in..._

She angled her other blade and dropped it on her foot, bringing a scream tearing from her own lips.

Sora heard. A tremor ran through his body, causing the archer to turn in shock as he half-stumbled, half-dashed towards her. Tears were welling in Kairi's eyes as Sora arrived before her, his eyes still fogged over and flickering with gold.

And his crown was gleaming, the cross standing out against the medal - and the gem in the center was shining a bright gold.

"You can hear me, can't you?" she called at the rosario. "You... sadistic... clawslinger! And you know what she is, don't you?!"

The archer in the corner went still.

Naminé turned towards Kairi in surprise.

Kairi smirked, turning towards the archer with a grim smile. "I can tell," she called. "You're _not_ Artemis! The goddess of the hunt was a pure maiden. A woman of honour! When she wanted rid of a man who attacked her... She turned him into an _armadillo!_ A _house fly,_ even! She didn't... _seduce_ them!"

She turned towards the rosario again. "I don't know how you speak to him - the Sora with the Keyblade," she admitted. "But I can tell _you're _the reason he's here! You came here because of me - and that's how he found me! You're here for _my blood!_ I _know _that! That's _all I am _to you!"_  
_

Tears were rising in Kairi's eyes as she said that. "But I _don't care_. You're here. That's _all that matters!_ So do something and _bite me already!_"

Sora's eyes went wide at her words.

The rocks behind Kairi tremored, falling away as dust and causing the cards to come lose. They, too, had left cuts, but until now those had been surpressed by the cards leaving pressure against them. Her body went limp for a moment - she had lost too much blood too recently - but she managed to reach forward and hook her hand on the rosario.

It didn't come loose if she let her hand fall - but the slightest tug was enough to pull the loop from the single chain.

A storm of dark light ripped up around Sora, tearing a scream from the false Artemis that stood at the edge of the cave. Sora's hair went jet-black in an instant, a crimson flare rising from the roots but not reaching the tips. His fingers sharpened, lengthened, cut with a jagged pattern like keys. His eyes lit up gold for a moment before a bloodred flow washed over them, leaving a ring of precious metal to connect iris to pupil.

The unlocked vampire caught Kairi's arm before she hit the ground.

"I should, but you're in no condition to provide a drink."

He shot into a roundhouse kick that connected with the wall. A flare of energy ripped across the surface, coursing towards Naminé and Riku until Soul Eater shot out of the stone. The handle crossed his helm with a wicked impact and caused him to turn ninety-two degrees before collapsing. Naminé realized she had been holding her breath and let it out heavily, turning towards Sora - who smirked at the fallen werewolf.

"That ought to keep the Allure out of him for a while," he mused, turning to help Kairi to her feet. "Hope you know something in medicine, halfway," he called to Naminé when he was sure that the victim could stand. "Take care of Kairi..."

He turned away, flexing his fingers as he braced his posture low.

"...while I take care of this girl... with the fishing legs."

That struck a nerve _in a nerve_ in the archer. Her eyes blazed wildly - and she crossed her arms before her and bowed her head to the earth.

A flare of energy that Naminé could not describe ripped through the air around her - something powerful and swirling and... red. Her body began to change, the faintest of shadows crossing her skin as it changed from a preteen figure into that of a girl in her late teens. Her hair darkened, turning the beautiful colour of earth and spreading into lovely waves.

A serpentine night-blue figure emerged from her waist area, and Naminé was trying to remember spells for dealing with snakes before she realized that it was a _tail_. She threw her hands out and raised her head to the sky, giving a wordless scream - and the back of her shirt tore open, revealing a pair of spread wings the colour of a midnight sky. She flared her fingers, causing her nails to extend into deadly, lengthy, manicured claws.

Then she faced Sora and opened her eyes, emerald green eyes forming a menacing deathglare.

Sora smirked, rising back straight. "Called it."

Naminé was confused. "What... who are...?"

"Take notes, Kairi," Sora called to the girl who was leaning against the wall. "_This..._ is a succubus."

**_Bite-Sized Monster Encyclopedia: Succubus  
_**_A female spirit identified since the Middle Ages who enters the dreams of sleeping men to seduce them._

The girl turned towards Naminé. "My name is Olette," she stated in response to the witch's question. "I've been here, at Yokai... for a long time."

"Those rumours," Naminé realized. "About those Greek goddesses... those were from _you?_"

"You're no student," Sora mused menacingly. "A succubus uses illusions as an offensive. To harm foes until the mirage is broken. But you're able to craft a whole new body for yourself with your illusions. That shows experience more than any student could have."

Olette faced him again. "You're right," she admitted. "I graduated from Yokai Academy a few years ago. You're quite knowledgeable... vampire." She closed her eyes. "But I'm here for a reason."

Sora huffed. "I don't give a damn," he snapped. "You're not a seeker - you're a _seductress_. You're just prying for boys." A glare lit up in his eyes. "You tried to _claim_ me."

He dropped to his clawslinger stance again. "And for that... you will pay."

Olette glared. "Guess again!"

Her wings flared down as she shot towards Sora, claws flaring menacingly. She arced into the air and raised her hand as though to cut him open.

Sora sidestepped the blow, _grabbed Olette by the wing joint,_ and _hurled her across the battlefield!_

The impact sent a tremor through the cave. Olette struggled to her feet and somehow managed to snap her fingers with foot-long fingernails. Sora raised an eyebrow as a hand of cards few towards him - and with one swift movement, he impaled each card on a claw of his own. He turned towards Setzer to see an 'Oh, Mulch' look on the gambler's face.

Then he hurled the cards right back at him.

Setzer was now in the same position Kairi had just been.

Sora turned back to Olette as she soared towards him. He didn't even need a moving start; he dropped low, grabbed the earth, and slid under Olette's cross-strike before arcing into a backflip and sending her flying into one of the torches.

Then he turned and grabbed the _second_ Olette by the neck.

Naminé's scream died halfway out.

It made its way out when the first Olette vanished into the flame.

"An illusiory duplicate," Sora mused. "You _are _experienced."

Olette couldn't respond - she was clawing at Sora's hands, trying to pry his fingers from her neck. He smirked and raised the succubus like he was going to throw a baseball into the ground.

"Let her go, Sora."

The vampire turned to see Kairi stepping towards him. Her movements were slow, and there was a trail of blood from her left foot - but her heavy eyes were determined.

Sora only scoffed. "Look at you, Kairi. Still trying to boss me around. I thought I told you-"

"You did tell me," Kairi admitted, her voice weak. Tears were rising in her eyes "And you treat me like _dirt_ for it. You are a heartless, honourless little _bastard_."

That caught Sora off-guard.

"So tell me, clawslinger," Kairi demanded, her voice cracking. "What would you do if your _snack tray_ went missing?"

Sora's eyes went wide.

"Let her go."

This time, Sora let her go.

Now Kairi held out her right hand - around which was the chain of his rosario. Slowly, Sora reached forward and took the crown, pressing the loop against the strand of single links that dangled from his choker. He closed his eyes without a word, letting the vampyric changes fade.

Weakly, Kairi limped over to Olette, who looked weak for herself.

"I want you to tell me," she demanded. "What were you doing here? And why were you disguising yourself?"

Olette lowered her gaze. "I'm a succubus," she murmured. "We're a race that lives on love. A succubus can only live life to its fullest... when a man gives her his heart. Unrequited love... can kill us. Every time I've tried to find a man... I've been shunted away, refused. I came to Yokai... looking to stop that."

Kairi smiled. "You give up that easy?" she murmured.

That caused the succubus' gaze to shoot back up.

"Keep looking, Olette," Kairi insisted. "You'll find it, sooner or later. I promise you that."

"How..." Olette shook her head. "How can you say that? You're not-"

"You're right," the redhead admitted weakly. "I'm not a succubus. In fact, you're the first I've ever met. Love isn't going to kill me, just because I'm not loved back."

She glanced towards Sora, who had lapsed into his post-seal sleeping phase.

"Well... not directly."

The room went silent at that as she limped out of the cave, leaving a trail of blood on her way.

+x+x+x+

The next day, Kairi wasn't there when Sora started towards the school, which made him uneasy. He was immediately relieved when he saw her in the news club room. Less so when he saw that there were bandages on her arms, neck, and a wrap around her lower left leg. Even less when she didn't even pay him anymore attention than an offhand glance.

The newspaper was coming along well, in any case. Riku had picked a well-suited layout, and Naminé had provided some impressive artwork of Olette - it was her false Artemis form, back to back with her full succubus appearance. Kairi had provided an impressively written story to go with it - no one was named, by Leon's request, but it provided well-fleshed details.

Sora sat down next to Naminé, in the only seat left in the four-desk setup they had set up before he got there. "How much is there left to do?" he asked nervously.

"Not much," Riku admitted. Kairi finished looking over their newspaper's final copy and handed it to Riku. "Why don't you go take this to the print room and get us... fifty copies or so? Setzer said we need to start handing them out tomorrow or..."

"Or else it's hardly news." Setzer's voice emerging from the door caused Sora to turn to see him standing there. "Leon's already in the print room, he'll be able to run you through it."

Sora nodded and got to his feet dejectedly. "Where's the print room?"

Setzer beckoned to the door. "Left out here, take the first right and it's the second door on your left."

"Understood." Sora stepped out of the room.

Kairi didn't react until the door had closed.

It then proceeded to open and then close again.

+x+x+x+

"Alright, just hit this button and be prepared to wait," Leon explained to Sora. "Fifty copies is going to take a while. I've got to check on the deal with the fight and art clubs - I think things are starting to settle down, but... we'll see."

At that, he stepped out of the room and closed the door. Sora pressed the button Leon had pointed out and proceeded to grab a chair, sitting down for the long wait. The copy machine wasn't all too loud, but it was absolutely annoying, and Sora groaned after realizing he was going to have to sit through that noise for fifty copies' worth.

A knock on the door caused him to sigh. He was facing away from the door, and without turning, he called, "It's not locked, but I'm gonna be here a while."

The door proceeded to open and then close. There was silence for a long while.

"Are we free to use that room?"

Sora spun and fell over at the voice. He raised his gaze to see Kairi standing at the door, looking nervous and slightly irritated - though the latter was mostly due to the machine, which she was aiming a death glare at. "Kairi!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

Kairi looked at him. "We need to talk," she stated. "Are we free to use that room?" She beckoned to the door off the side.

"It's the paper storeroom," Sora replied nervously. "I think it's locked, though." When Kairi stepped up to the door and pulled it open, turning to him with a raised eyebrow, he added, "I did say 'think', didn't I?"

"Come on."

Sora got to his feet and followed her into the storeroom. It was slightly crowded, but there was plenty of room for Kairi to turn around without whacking Sora in the process.

He managed to cut her off without a word leaving her lips. "Before you say anything, I want to apologize for yesterday."

Kairi blinked. "You're... apologizing?"

"_Inside me_ has been kind of... cruel to you, recently," Sora admitted. "The memories are kind of fuzzy, but he's been insulting you. He even knocked you down after that incident with Thorn. I know words can't make up for that, but... I'm sorry."

The room was silent for a long moment.

"Sora, _I _was going to apologize to _you_."

That caught _Sora_ off-guard. "You?"

Kairi nodded. "When I got back to my dorm room the other day, I thought over the events with Olette for a long time. I was mad because of how the clawslinger had been acting, but I realized - when you're a vampire, you _can_ and _will_ kick ass and take names. When I was shouting at you, I was shouting at _both_ of you - and I shouldn't be shouting at _either_ of you. Yeah, the clawslinger can go kind of... overboard. But that's just who he is."

She stepped past him and opened the door.

"Besides, he... he called me by name."

* * *

Draco: Sorry guys, I can be cruel when the plot demands.

What the hell am I saying? I should be apologizing for my extreme lateness. That was not excuseable by any definition of the word, and I'm sorry. Hope you guys all like it!


	6. Newcomer Warrior

Draco: Alright, I'm gonna try and keep working. Keyword: Try. I did mention I've been playing Final Fantasy III, didn't I? Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing so far!

Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Newcomer Warrior**

There were a _lot _of students at Yokai Academy.

Which meant that, as she saw everyone coming out of the building at lunch hour, she had to make a mental note to print a _lot_ more newspapers next time.

But that didn't stop Kairi from calling to the passing crowd, "Yoohoo!"

The moment her voice crossed the air, most of the students turned to the small setup where the news club was gathered. "We're from the news club! Come get a paper - first one of the new year!"

"What's that?"

"Something at the gates?"

"Is that girl... glowing?"

Sora, Kairi, Naminé, and Riku were all there. Sora was leaning on his Keyblade like a staff, Riku had Soul Eater hooked over his shoulder, and Naminé had her sketchbook in hand. Kairi? She was perched at the front of the table a copy of the newspaper in her hand, and the hand-sized blades Sora had given her were sheathed on her back - which meant she still had the harness wrapped around her.

And that drew a _crowd_. Kairi heard the guys shouting from across the grounds;

"It's Kairi! Kairi Chikai!"

"No way! The freshman Chikai?"

"And Naminé Kioku from Scythe's class!"

Some of the girls were squealing, too, as Riku and Sora could hear all too well.

"Is that Riku Kurai?"

"And the new guy! Sora Kingdom!"

"Kingdom? No way!"

Students started barrelling towards the doors. Kairi's smile evaporated, being replaced by an expression of horror as guys and girls charged towards them seven-by-seven. In a flash, she swept over the table, hoping to use it as a barrier.

"Give it here!"

"Gimme a paper!"

"I want one!"

Sora and Riku faded their weapons, and Naminé set her notebook down as the three of them joined Kairi in handing out papers about as fast as their hands could move. And that meant Riku was moving at newmoon speed as he was flashing papers to three girls at once. Kairi was struggling to get papers handed out, and she knew they were going to be out fast.

Setzer showed up in ten minutes with fifty more papers in hand. Naminé swore under her breath when she realized the crowd wasn't thinning out much - fifty more wasn't going to be enough. And the arrival of the news club's SiC drew about twenty squeals of "SETZEEER! AAAH!" - which meant that Setzer wouldn't have a chance to slack off and leave the other club members to the work.

Twenty minutes had yet to pass when Kairi tried to get rid of the crowd. "We're out of papers!" she protested. That wasn't, strictly speaking, true - Setzer had an issue under his cloak that he was planning to read later, since he hadn't had a good look at the final version yet. "Sorry! Wait for the next issue!" She turned to the SiC. "Setzer, how often do we publish this paper?"

"Monthly," Setzer prompted.

The crowd wasn't thinning. Kairi and Sora exchanged glances. So did Riku and Naminé.

Setzer drew a hand of cards and threw them into the crowd, causing a few people to shout - then the news club ran off, with Naminé throwing up a few trip spiderwebs as they ran. It didn't slow down the crowd much, and eventually they had to take cover in the woods, clamber onto the branches, and wait for everyone to pass below.

Once everything was clear, Riku, Naminé, and Sora dropped down. Kairi waited for Setzer to pass so that she could swipe the paper from under his cloak - that way she'd have a distraction if someone approached her. She dropped down once she was sure the crowd wasn't coming back and started towards the school.

On her way there, she saw a small figure with dark hair the colour of frost on pavement. For a moment, a chill went through her - why was silver hair so popular among the blackhearts at this school? But slowly, she realized it wasn't silver - it was alternating, individual strands of black and white, forming the illusion of cold steel. His garments were similar - he had a jet-black shirt with short white sleeves, and leggings that were white towards the center and black at the outside.

Curious, Kairi stepped towards him. The boy had something in his hand - a small, double-edged wooden blade that he was arcing around in professional motions. He looked quite young, as well - not just his size, but his bodily _structure_ wasn't very fleshed-out. He didn't notice Kairi approaching until she was close enough that the blade might hit her.

He stopped suddenly and locked gazes with Kairi.

Kairi was quiet at first. There was something dark in his emerald eyes - like he had seen too much.

"Hello," she prompted after a while.

There was a moment of utter silence.

Then, without warning, the boy leapt at Kairi menacingly, his blade flaring.

Kairi's eyes widened, and she fell to the ground as the strike flew over him. She scrambled to her feet and drew one of her blades as the boy landed, skidding backwards - he had managed to turn in midair and face her without skipping a beat. He drove his blade into the ground and lashed out at Kairi, sending a flare of earth towards the freshman.

Swearing she'd seen that before, Kairi leapt away from the strike as it rocketed past her, cutting a tombstone decoration in half as the boy raced towards her. Kairi tried to remember the training Riku had given her in the fight club and adapt it to weapon combat; she caught the boy's sword with her own and drew her blade across the shaft, leaving a cut in the wood, before spinning around and striking towards the boy. He only dropped to the ground under the blow and leapt away before rushing forward with a deadly horizontal slice.

Kairi drew her second blade with her left hand as she dropped, striking the boy's weapon with the first in her right.

She lashed out towards the hilt with her left, leaving a deep cut in the blade.

Then she brought her right around and tore through the wood, causing the blade to fall off the weapon.

The boy stumbled back, glancing at the handle and broken hilt that was in his hands with a look of shock. He raised his gaze to Kairi and hurled the wood at her, causing her to step away as he drew a pair of wooden knives from his waist and leapt at her.

Kairi had _no _experience against a foe with two weapons, but she managed to catch the boy's cross-armed strike on her swords. He was halfway through the air when their weapons met, but somehow he managed to force Kairi to a kneel, forcing pressure against her blades.

There was a fierce glare in his eyes, and Kairi quickly broke the lock, ducked under the continued blow, and rose, kicking him away. The strike connected with his chest and only caused him to stumble back slightly, but Kairi took the chance to rush forward, drop her blades, and lash out with a straight-arm punch that sent him tumbling to the ground.

She grabbed her swords and braced herself as the boy rose to a sitting position, perching one hand on his knee.

"Who _are_ you?" Kairi demanded.

The boy didn't respond. He just sheathed his knives and got to his feet, stepping away.

Kairi was confused - but at that moment, the bell went off, and she sheathed her blades and raced towards class.

+x+x+x+

After classes, Kairi and Sora met up with Riku and Naminé. Kairi told them about her encounter with the boy, leaving all of them looking very curious. Riku in particular looked kind of worried, but Kairi tried not to think about it.

No sooner had they stepped out of the building than Kairi saw her assailant a distance away. He had a new wooden sword in his hand - this one was a katana, and he was arcing it around with fast movements, dashing around and arcing his blade in every direction.

"That's him," Kairi mused, beckoning to the boy. "That kid with the katana."

Riku followed her gaze and swore in Persian. "_That_ was your opponent?"

Kairi turned to him. "You know him?"

"Know him...? Kairi, that's _Slasher Kishi_," Riku elaborated. "He must be in Heartilly's side of the freshman class if you didn't recognize him. You don't want to be on his bad side. He is a _brutal_ warrior."

That caught Kairi off guard. "He's powerful?" She was starting to wonder if there was something extra in the swords that Sora had given her.

Riku shook his head. "No, he's not. He's _relentless_. He doesn't win many battles, but if you get on his bad side, he's going to find a way to get back at you. And he's got _resources_."

Sora glanced at him. "'Resources'?"

"Allies," Riku mused. "Other warriors who can and will back him up when he needs to. He'll even the playing field, and he'll even it _mean._"

The way he phrased it sounded suspicious, but Kairi didn't apply any pressure. "Well, then let's try and not get on his bad side," she mused, glancing towards him.

The moment she turned away was the moment Slasher realized that someone had eyes on him - and he looked their way to see two familiar faces walking out of the school.

+x+x+x+

Later that day, Riku was on the roof of the school. The moon was growing closer to full, and as he stood there, perched on the fence, his body began to shift, streaks of dark fur crossing his arms.

Something ran into the door.

Riku spun as the handle was fiddled with. Curious, Riku forced his transformation to subside and dropped down as someone knocked on the door. Hesitant, he approached it, a dark mist coursing from his right hand as he closed his fingers around Soul Eater. He edged up to the door as the knock emerged again, reaching his left hand up to the lock.

With one swift movement, he unlocked the door with his claws.

Then he spun around as the door swung open, bracing Soul Eater next to his eyes as someone stepped through. He lashed forward and raised his blade to their neck...

Only for a single, small blade to catch against it.

Riku's eyes widened. "Kairi?"

"What, were you going to take of my head?" Kairi seemed like she was joking, though her voice was tight.

The werewolf lowered his blade and stepped away as Kairi sheathed hers. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Looking for you," Kairi replied. "You think I didn't notice?"

Riku didn't bother to play dumb. She wasn't a fighter, but Kairi was _perceptive_ - she could spot a lie, and she could spot recognition. "Alright, Kairi, I admit it. I know Slasher."

Kairi raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

"I met him in an out-of-the-way cave in the human world, before the year started," Riku replied, running his finger along the edge of Soul Eater. "It was... a meeting grounds for monsters. Hardly accessible to humans, so a lot of monsters gathered there for training. Slasher showed up and demanded a battle with the strongest monster there. I was undefeated among the group, and I happened to be there at the time."

"Let me guess," Kairi mused, remembering what he had said in the cave the previous day. "He defeated you."

Riku shook his head. "Not then, he didn't," he replied. "I actually finished him off pretty quickly. He didn't show what he was, so I don't think he was going all out, but... when he left, he gave me a deathglare. Like... the wrath of a dragon.

"I didn't see him until the next time I went there, when one of the guys told me that he had requested I meet him at the high battlefield. It was our biggest arena, out of the cave, and enough room for a troll and a cyclops to duke it out. He was waiting - and he had someone with him. They challenged me to a rematch."

The werewolf set a hand to his head. "I don't even _remember_ half of that battle," he murmured. "I just remember... darkness. He was striking me without even touching me. I couldn't see the fur on the back of my hand when he was done."

Kairi lowered her gaze. "I'm screwed," she murmured. "What do I do?"

"Stay out of his way," Riku said honestly. "If he challenges you, lose on purpose and pray that it doesn't happen again."

Kairi gulped. "Got it."

+x+x+x+

If only it were that easy...

Even as Kairi made her way back to the freshman dorms after speaking with Riku, she didn't realize she was being watched. Slasher was training in the woods nearby, his weapon having changed again - this time to a basic wooden chakram. He was halfway through a whirling blow when he saw her crimson hair and came to a complete stop.

He rushed up to the edge of the tree and kept silent, watching as she made her way past. The freshman stopped in her tracks, glancing around as though she knew she was being watched.

Slasher saw the opportunity and took it.

He braced his weapon for a moment before drawing it back and hurling the chakram towards Kairi... just as she started towards the dorm again.

The weapon missed a direct hit, but the sharpened wooden edge did cross the back of her neck. She gave a gasp and reached for it, glancing around. Slasher swore under his breath and kept to the shadows as Kairi reached back and drew one of her blades in her left hand.

Silence...

Silence...

Then she turned away and sheathed her blade. "Monster bugs," she murmured to herself. "Because this school just wasn't monstrous enough."

+x+x+x+

The next day, Kairi had a bandage across the back of her neck as she started towards school again. As she made her way inside, she caught sight of Slasher swinging a weapon again - this one looked like a quarterstaff. She didn't linger; she made her way inside without hesitation.

On her way to the classroom, Kairi saw Naminé rushing towards her. She looked like she was worried, so Kairi came to a stop.

And if she hadn't come to a stop, she would have been impaled with an arrow.

Kairi's eyes widened when she realized there was a quivering shaft of wood a few inches from her eyes. Naminé approached her and pulled the arrow out of the wall, glancing down the hall it had come from. There was no one there, but that didn't mean anything - the assailant could easily be around the corner, or behind a door.

"That was too close," Naminé murmured.

Kairi glanced at the wall. There was a map there, and the arrow had been embedded smack-dab in the middle of the dot labelled _YOU ARE HERE_. "How did you..?"

Naminé drew her sketchbook from under her arm, revealing the image that was currently on the front page: a thin, faded sketch - like she had done when Sora was missing - of an arrow flying towards Kairi. "I told you, it works," she prompted.

The freshman girl chuckled weakly. "You should have used your crystal," she murmured. "Then you could make me think you just know about danger."

"Come on," Naminé insisted, "let's get to class."

+x+x+x+

During their club time, the quartet of Kairi, Sora, Naminé, and Riku were busy doing the 'extras' section of the newspaper - they had yet to get a good story for their next issue, so they decided to write up the little things to flesh out the paper. Leon had prompted them to provide whatever they could think of, so Naminé was writing up art tips, Riku was piecing together a section on 'top spots to visit in the human world', and Sora was fussing around with the layout to figure things out.

Kairi was just idle at the moment. Ever since she had run into Slasher yesterday, problems seemed to be following her around. That arrow couldn't have been accidental, and Kairi had a feeling that the cut from last night wasn't just the insect she had thought it was.

Riku had mentioned Slasher had allies.

What if he had sent someone after her?

"Kairi?"

The human girl raised her gaze and turned to Sora, who seemed worried. "Something wrong?" he prompted. "You kind of... spaced out for a moment, there."

"No, I'm fine," Kairi insisted. "How's the layout looking?"

Sora swept his paper around to Kairi. "Here's my idea for the front page," he replied. "Main article goes here." He tapped the large space in the center. "The intro for Naminé's section can go here, and Riku's first little piece can go right here."

Kairi glanced at the layout. The section for Riku's space seemed surprisingly small. "Riku," she mused, turning to the werewolf, "do you have any photos on yours?"

Riku shook his head. "I've got one for Altar Cave," he corrected, "but other than that... no. I told Sora not to give me too much room on the front page, that's just the first little quip."

"I've got a few small sample arts to throw in with my tips," Naminé added. "That's why my space is a little bigger."

"I see." Kairi leaned back in her desk. "Man, today's just going slow."

Sora's gaze flared up suddenly, and without warning he shot out of his desk, flaring his Keyblade into his hand as he shouted, "Get down!"

He braced it before him as the window shattered.

Kairi screamed, raising her arms before her to try and guard from the glass. There was a shower of wooden kunai driven into the floor. A few were impaled in the table, one was speared through Naminé's sketchbook, and two had clattered off of Sora's Keyblade, lying flat on the ground.

Naminé hesitantly pulled the kunai out of her notebook.

Riku drew his hand away from one of the kunai that had landed between his fingers.

Sora faded his Keyblade and glared out the window, with a feeling he knew who it was who had attacked them.

Kairi lowered her arms. Her arms and face were covered in lacerations, and blood was trickling from the cuts.

There was silence for a long moment as the four of them sat there, taking in what just went on.

Sora swore heavily under his breath. "Slasher," he muttered.

"It has to be," Kairi agreed. "He..." Something caught her eye, and she swept her gaze to the kunai shower on the floor. "Wait, did you see that?"

Riku and Sora didn't understand, but Naminé got to her feet and stepped towards the spikefield. Slowly, she let her hands drift over the wooden spikes; then it shot forward and closed around something. She got to her feet, revealing a scrap of parchment lying in her hand.

"Paper?" Kairi mused.

Naminé pulled it open. "_To the redhead,_" she read aloud. "_I challenge you to a rematch. Meet me at the Monster Tree at noon today. Come alone. Bring your weapons.__ To arrive with an ally will result in torment._" She narrowed her gaze and looked over the sheet curiously, catching sight of something on the back of the sheet. "Hold on... _If you don't know where to find me, I won't penalize you for letting the witch show you the place._"

Kairi hung her head. "Mulch."

"Don't go, Kairi," Sora insisted. "That's just asking for trouble."

"And if I don't go, trouble is just going to find me," Kairi countered. "I pissed him off, and now he's determined to defeat me." She got to her feet. "Naminé, please tell me you _do _know something about bandages and medicine, I can't face Slasher covered in cuts like this."

+x+x+x+

The Monster Tree was Yokai Academy's landmark - a leafless ebony growth at the edge of the grounds. After Naminé had bandaged Kairi's wounds, the witch led her to the meeting place. Kairi figured the name came from the fact that gashes and patterns in the bark of the tree made it look like a stereotypical demonic face.

Slasher was atop one of the branches, hiding in the shadows. The moment she caught sight of the warrior, Kairi reached for her blades.

"So, you've arrived."

His voice wasn't anything like Kairi had expected. It wasn't the dark voice of a blackheart warrior, like Kairi had expected from the way he acted; but it wasn't quite the child's voice that fit his body. Rather, his voice was like his eyes - that of a child who had experienced more than a child should.

Naminé stepped forward. "I understand you want to meet Kairi alone," she stated. "However, I want you to promise me that you, yourself, are alone before I leave."

Kairi made out Slasher bowing his head. "I swear, by blade and hand, I have no allies with me. My only friend is my blade, so long as she is my only enemy."

"Very well," Naminé prompted. She turned and stepped towards Kairi. "Good luck," she whispered, catching her hand.

The human girl only nodded as the witch stepped away. Kairi reached into her pockets. "Well?" she prompted. "Aren't you going to show your face?"

The warrior dropped low and leapt; then he descended, landing swiftly before the monster tree, and Kairi gasped.

Slasher was clad like a warrior of the shadows. Tight-fitting garments were wrapped around him, a deadly crimson so dark it was nearly black. A dark wrap of cloth imbued with jet-black crystals was wrapped around his waist, from which a cape-esque flare of cloth fell. Two more flares dangled from his shoulders, and a cowl was wrapped around his head - a black cloth before his lower face, a helmet over his hair with a silver pattern just over his eyes, and two falling guards at the side of his helm.

Were it not for the emerald eyes that glared from that cowl, Kairi would never have believed it was him.

Kairi braced her blades before her as Slasher locked eyes with her menacingly, rising to a warrior's stand. There were two blades crossed on his back - a short katana with a cold blue handle and a crimson blade with a curious pattern across the hilt. There was also what looked like a pair of chakrams in the cloths dangling from his shoulders. The two stood unmovingly for a long time.

Then Slasher braced a hand across his torso and bowed slightly.

A lot of things had confused Kairi, but this was topped the charts. "Wh-What? What are you..."

"You are the first."

Kairi paused. "The first...?"

Slasher raised his gaze. "I have fought many monsters as I have trained," he stated. "Some were strong; some were fast; some had abilities I was yet unfamiliar with; and some were just... big. But you fall under none of those classifications. You are weak, and slow, and... average. I nearly defeated you, with wooden weapons in no skill but that of a newcomer to the art of battle.

"There are many foes I have lost to, but you are the first who has nearly lost to me."

He drew the red blade with his left hand and aimed it at Kairi. "As I was trained, so I will fight. You have no skill at a distance, so I face you with not but my own blades. The battle vow of a Ninja stands with me."

Now he drew the katana with his right hand, and Kairi stepped back as he crossed his arms, so the katana was braced at his left side and the sword of blood at his right.

"Fast blades..."

Kairi reached back and drew her twin swords as Slasher's eyes began to shine.

"...Fast feet."

One step.

That was all the warning she had before Kairi saw the ninja rush forward, blades arcing into a swirling combo of strikes. She leapt out of the way, hitting the ground hard as Slasher realized he was swinging at air.

Kairi got to her feet and rushed Slasher as he turned towards her, swinging her swords. Slasher caught one blade on his crimson and the other on his katana before leaping into the air, spiralling over her and bringing his blades down on her back.

A bloodcurdling scream tore from Kairi, piercing the air as she fell to the ground. Her blades fell from her hands as she hit the ground, and Slasher only snickered as she tried to rise.

"Stay down."

He leapt into a flip and landed a dropping kick that forced Kairi flat on her stomach. He landed on her other side and turned, raising the crimson blade to her face - and Kairi had a horrible feeling in her gut that that blade was going to be the last thing she saw.

A chuckle passed his lips. "I'm sorry... Kairi, was it? Is that the best you can do, Kairi?" He dropped low. "That's pitiful. Really, pitiful. How you got a crowd like Kurai and that witch is beyond me."

Kairi struggled to rise, and Slasher raised his katana. "Ah ah ah!" he warned. "You get up, and I'll drop this blade so hard you won't even feel it. You think I'm afraid to finish you off?"

"Kairi!"

Slasher turned.

Kairi raised her gaze.

Sora and Naminé were dashing towards them. Sora had his Keyblade in his hand, braced at his side, and Naminé somehow managed to be running and have her pencil on her paper at the same time. Slasher swore under his breath as Sora planted his right foot, arced into a spin, and hurled his Key towards the ninja in a whirling horizontal Strike Raid.

The twin-bladed swordsman raised his blades before him to defend, but the teeth of the Key slammed into his crimson and knocked it out of his hand. It impaled itself in the Monster Tree as the Keyblade passed him, arced over Kairi, and raced back towards him. The second connection sent his katana clattering to the ground as the Key landed in Sora's hands.

Naminé swept her pencil off the page as a warm light coursed over Kairi. She felt the wounds on her back starting to heal as strength returned to her limbs, and as she struggled to all fours she felt Sora set his hand on her shoulder as he arrived at her side.

"Sora...?" she murmured. "Why...?"

"Riku told us everything," Sora explained. "I knew Slasher was going to try and take you down." He faded his Key. "Kairi. Take off the rosario."

Kairi reached for the crown dangling from his neck.

And a silver blur crossed her arm, tearing a scream from her lips as it tore a wicked gash in her arm.

Sora's gaze shot up as he saw Slasher standing there, his eyes blazing. He had a steel chakram in his left hand, and his right hand was out after a throw, for another was stuck in the Monster Tree. He snatched up his katana and leapt into the air, spinning as he landed swiftly next to growth.

"This could have ended a lot cleaner," Slasher warned. "She was accepting defeat." He braced his remaining chakram to throw. "But you know what? You're not any more of a challenge than she is!"

He hurled the steel ring and grabbed the crimson blade.

Sora raised a hand to defend, hoping to defend the others.

And Kairi's hand hooked over the rosario, pulling it from his choker.

A flare of energy emerged with such power that the chakram's path _reversed_ without so much as a slowdown_. _Slasher had to dodge his own steel as it impaled itself right above the first, a few inches from his eyes. He turned back to Sora as his spiked brown hair faded to jet-black, crimson fire rising from the root but not reaching the tip. He crossed his arms before him as his fingernails lengthened to claws, cuts tearing into them so they looked like pin tumbler keys.

His eyes snapped open.

The irises had turned bloodred, with a ring of gold to connect them to the pupils.

"I'm another story."

Slasher swore loudly. "Holy cold Bahamut! You're-"

Sora dashed forward and grabbed Slasher by his ninja garb, raising him into the air. Slasher tried to swing the katana at him, but Sora only caught the blade between the claws of his left hand; and when the crimson sword was swung, he arced his right foot up to catch the blade.

Horror lit up in Slasher's eyes.

And with the power in Sora's, no one could blame him.

The vampire forced both blades to the ground before leaping into the air. He whirled into a spin and hurled Slasher into the Monster Tree, causing the ninja to shout as his body twisted around unbreaking branches before he got caught on one of the lower ones.

Kairi struggled to rise, this time managing to get up. The rosario was dangling in her left hand, and a long, deep scar from Slasher's chakram was on her right. Sora turned towards her and caught her hand, inspecting the cut.

"It's nothing too serious," he prompted. "Just a wrap of bandages should be enough. Try not to put too much pressure on it for a while, though." A smirk rose on his face as he faced Kairi proper. "And try to stop getting caught up in battles," he prompted. "Don't want to spill too much of that sweet stuff."

Kairi slapped him across the face with her left hand.

Sora retailated with a low kick.

Kairi leapt over it and slapped him across the face with her _right_ hand.

Naminé's eyes widened.

Sora glared at her and lashed out with an open palm thrust that connected straight with her stomach. Kairi doubled over and hit the ground weakly, the rosario clattering from her fingers. Sora reached down and picked it up by the loop, connecting it to the single chain from his choker.

The human girl got to her feet as Naminé stepped towards her, an arm over her stomach. "He was holding back," she murmured, trying to assure Naminé. "I'm fine."

Naminé shook her head in disbelief. "Kairi," she gasped, "you just _slapped a vampire._"

Kairi stopped a moment. "I guess I did," she mused.

The witch was silent for a moment. "I don't even _know_ how to respond to that," she mused. She reached into her pocket. "Here, I think I have some bandages, why don't I patch up those cuts."

A minute or so later, the trio of Sora, Kairi, and Naminé took off, unaware of the emerald glare coming from the trees.

* * *

Draco: I don't _think_ Kairi slapping a vampire is going to become a regular thing... but who knows. Kurumu pulled it off once.

Slasher Kishi is meant as my intepretaion of the badass nameless from various FFIII arts including the cover. In _Dissidia 012_, Onion Knight's alternate outfit based on that artwork was named 'Slasher', so I took a little creativity.

If you've read the manga, you know that the big flame is gonna show up around 8. Black cloaks? Maybe. Jenova coats? Hell yes. Everyone enjoy!

**EDIT: **Holy Cross Flaming _Shiva,_ guys, I pulled those emerald eyes and those daggers from Onion's _Dissidia_ appearance without _possibly_ even _thinking_ about it. I could have sworn those eyes in that Dissidia artwork were Square's little silver-blue obsession and I _keep forgetting about that dagger on his waist_.


	7. Cold Flare

Draco: How many of you have been waiting for some more keyslingers? Let's have a show of hands.

...Aiya!

Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Cold Flare**

Yokai Academy wasn't warm or cold. It felt like autumn, all the time, no matter what it was supposed to be like in the human world. That made school days pass much, much faster when you didn't have to worry about horrible weather.

Moreso with a deadline over your head.

Kairi, Sora, Riku, and Naminé were working on the next issue of Yokai Times. All the extras were done, and they _couldn't find a main story_. They had gone everywhere, asked everyone, but there was nothing worth a good story - and the deadline was looming up on them. Kairi was just glad that she had managed to go almost another month without running into trouble.

To make matters worse, Setzer had been slacking off and not showing up for the club rounds, leaving the four of them working extra to make up for it.

"It's not like Setzer does that much anyways," Riku admitted when Kairi brought that last bit up. "Last time he was going to be our print boy, but we had to make Sora do it because he was late to show up."

"Still..."

It was then that Naminé, who had left to grab some more of her sketches, barged in through the door. "We've got a story!" she prompted.

Everyone turned to see Naminé dropping a sheet on the table. "What's going on?" Sora prompted.

"There's been a series of attacks across the school grounds," Naminé stated. The sheet she had set down was a set of images. Each image was a student of Yokai Academy, with a name, a short list of injuries, and a location at each side. "Students have been showing up in the infirmary left and right. That's why Setzer hasn't been at the club meetings; he was _one of the first._"

Kairi looked over the list. No two students had the same assortment of injuries. There were some that had wounds focused in one area - over the torso, down the arms or legs, even one who had taken a multitude of blunt strikes to the head. Others had strikes spread over select setups - head and arm, leg and arm, head and torso. If two students had the same damaged areas, they were not damaged in the same way - cuts, bruises, broken bones. One had his jaw dislocated and bruises on his left hand. Not the arm, just the hand.

"Do any of them have anything on _who _attacked them?" Kairi asked.

Naminé shook her head. "Nothing," she replied. "The attacker seems to be functioning on a sneak attack basis."

Sora sighed. "Well, then," he mused. "Story? Yes. Problem? Also yes."

+x+x+x+

Noon hour had the four of them splitting up to try and find some information on the attacker. There was a darkness in the air as Kairi approached the graveyard where Naminé had wrapped her in flowers at the start of the school year. Cautiously, she reached back and drew one of her blades, her eyes sweeping from side to side.

A crackling flame emerged from _right behind her_.

Which most certainly _did not_ match the _icy cold_ that she was feeling just behind her neck.

Kairi spun to see, of all things, a female figure in a jet-black cloak with icy blue trim, and a shining white sigil on her left shoulder. The hood was pulled over her eyes, and her left hand was outstretched. Burning on that hand was a flame - except it was icy blue, sparking with cold.

"Who are you?"

The two spoke at the same time. The cloaked girl drew her hand back, trailing frost through the air as Kairi reached for her other blade.

"Are you the attacker?" the girl demanded. "The one who's been putting people in the infirmary?"

The question caught Kairi off guard. "I'm _looking_ for the attacker," she stated.

That seemed to confuse the cloaked girl. "Why do you care?" she demanded. "They got your boyfriend?"

Kairi's face lit up. "I'm in the news club," she replied. "This is the first big story since the incident with Olette." She raised her gaze. "What about you?" she demanded. "Why are you after him?"

"I've been looking for him since the attacks started," the cloaked girl replied. "He's making a mockery out of me. Do me a favour and stay out of my way."

She turned away and stepped out of the graveyard.

+x+x+x+

Sora was running out of places to look. He was on his way back to meet up with the others when he caught sight of a suspicious blur past the corner of his eye. Curious, the vampire started after it, surprised to see no signs along the ground of someone having passed - no footprints, no marks anywhere.

But he could see his target fleeing from sight, and he didn't stop moving.

+x+x+x+

Kairi met up with Riku and Naminé just outside the school building. "You guys find anything?" Kairi asked.

"No one has a clue," Riku replied. "Not a face, a name, a voice, anything. We're all in the dark."

"I've been looking over the locations," Naminé stated. "No two victims were found in the same place. I've gone to all the spots, but... there's nothing."

"This is bad," Kairi murmured. She glanced around. "Sora's not here," she observed.

"Maybe he found something," Riku mused. "We can ask him after classes. Come on, we're gonna be late."

The two of them bolted into the school.

Kairi wasn't so anxious.

+x+x+x+

Sora followed the suspicious blur that was his target until he arrived at what looked like a wooden hollow in the front of a large tree. Whoever he had been pursuing had gone inside already, but Sora stopped at the entrance.

He reached out to call his Keyblade to hand.

_I wouldn't do that if I were you._

The vampire stopped and glanced down to see his rosario gleaming. "What do you mean?"

_There's something in this_ _cave,_ the clawslinger stated._ Drawing a weapon is just going to put it on alert._

Sora lowered his hand. "Point taken," he murmured.

_If something attcks you,_ _**then** you can draw your weapon._ The glow started to fade._ Until then, keep low_.

The vampire nodded and stepped forward, preparing to face anyone that came up.

+x+x+x+

Wooden hollow? Yeah, _NO_._  
_

That little gap in the tree that Sora had seen was in fact the start of a long passage carved from nature. It started off as though someone had carved out the inside of a very tall tree... and knocked it over. When he got to the end of the tree, that descended into an underground tunnel that was basically walls of dirt. Sora did his best not to touch anything - the whole place looked like it would collapse if he did.

After a few minutes of carefully not touching anything, he found himself on a stone circle, standing at the edge of an underground pool.

A growl passed through his lips. "Well, damn," he murmured. "Hell, I'm not going through this." He turned around.

He was staring at a stone wall.

"Who's there?"

The voice caused Sora to whirl back towards the pool. "Son of a bitch," he murmured. Aloud, he demanded, "Show yourself!"

"You're one to talk," the voice mused. It was female, but... defiant. "Stalking me all the way here... well played."

_Damn_, _he saw me. _"Are you the attacker?" he demanded. "The one who's been striking down students across the school?"

The voice huffed. "How many in the infirmary by now? Six? Seven?"

"Fifteen," Sora snapped. "And you know it."

"Is it only fifteen?"

Sora sighed. "Okay, now you're just mocking me."

The water in the distance surged up, like something had shot out of it.

Then again, this one closer.

And closer.

And closer still.

Sora called his Keyblade to hand, knowing it wouldn't protect him from the splash, but hoping he could land a hit before the shock kicked in. He braced to swing as a figure shot from the water - and a surge of something icy blue nailed it in the head.

That wasn't the wierdest part.

It was the fact that when the figure dove back under with the aftermath of the surge on its helm, the water _froze._

A figure in black dropped down, landing swiftly on the ice. It was a girl in an all-obscuring black cloak, with blue trim across the edges and a pair of slightly raised heels. There was an unfamiliar white emblem on her left shoulder, and on her back was a large snowflake pattern.

Her right hand was carved into a set of icy claws.

"Are you alright, _Rokusa_-"

She turned to face Sora and stopped cold.

Sora's mouth fell open, lowering his hands as the Keyblade faded. This girl looked like Kairi - she looked _exactly_ like Kairi - but her hair was an icy jet-black, and her eyes were a far colder shade of blue. Even in the dark of the cave, illuminated only by the glow of her claws of ice, Sora could see the difference - and there was something haunted in those cold eyes, something he couldn't make out.

The surface of the water flared, further away again, and the girl glanced towards it. She bit her lip for a moment; then she glared at Sora and snapped, "Sit here and stay out of my way."

She turned back towards the ice and swept her clawed hand down.

A bolt of something cold blue surged from it and struck the surface, sending ice coursing all across the pond.

When it hit the stone wall on the other side, Sora saw that it was fire.

_That defies **everything** I know about elementals!_ he screamed at himself. _Fire does **not **freeze!_

A single triangular blade tore through the ice as the girl braced her clawed hand. Another emerged, and they arced around, cutting a perfect circle in the ice. That circle flew into the air and shattered upon hitting the cave roof as the figure leapt out of the water and landed swiftly on the ice.

Armour? Sora saw that coming.

Armour that wasn't so much as _scratched_, let alone _rusted_? Not so much.

The girl gave an exasperated sigh. "Niju Blade," she muttered irritably.

The armoured female laughed. "Surprised, little icebender?" she taunted. "Didn't think we were done yet, did you?"

"Look," the ice girl stated, "I've had enough of this. We want nothing to do with you and the rest of your little sharp gang. Alright? If you want to fight, target someone else."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "We?"

"Shut up," the girl snapped over her shoulder. "I'm not talking about _you_."

The armoured fighter, Niju, only snickered. "You still don't get it," she mused. "This isn't about _a fight._ This isn't about _targets_. Hell, this stopped being about _you_ the second you hit Yubin in the face with that soft white stick you call a sword!"

The air around Sora and the cloaked girl went down seven degrees and picked up a windchill. He saw particles of ice gathering around the girl's helm - and fragments of light swarming around her hand.

"We want nothing to do with you," she repeated. "But if you don't learn to back off..."

She raised her left hand before her face as her hair frosted over.

"..._Then I'll **make you!**_"

A flare of light emerged from her hand.

And the ice around her hair exploded, forming a forest of spikes around her helm.

There was a blur as she swept her left hand down - and Sora shouted as the light faded. Her hand was closed around the handle of a weapon. But it was a long weapon of shining white, with twin shafts that coursed forward, beautifully parallel. One arced towards the other, curving into a heart; while the other arced away from the one, emerging into a star that formed kanji.

_Hikari_.

Light.

A chain coursed from the other end of the handle, ending with a seashell.

And there were feathered angel wings forming a guard around her hands.

"_Holy Meteor you've got a **Keyblade!?**_"

The girl didn't respond. She rushed towards Niju, who only lashed out with a single sweeping blow. The cloaked girl caught one strike on her claws and the other on her Keyblade before leaping into the air as a swarm of arcs formed from the surface of the ice below them. They wrapped around Niju and drew her underwater as the ice girl landed without so much as a slide before turning back to Sora.

Two steps was all it took. The ice seemed to be propelling her forward so that those two steps were sufficient for her to be close enough to raise her Keyblade to Sora's neck.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

Sora's own Keyblade appeared in his right hand, and he surged it up and forced the girl's Key to the earth with both hands.

"I should ask the same," he countered.

The girl glared at him and raised her claws to his neck, causing him to pull back. The strike cut just above his left eye, causing him to reach up with one hand as the girl drew back. This resulted in losing pressure to his Keyblade, which let the girl bring hers around and arc it towards Sora's head...

Only for a single figure to drop down and catch the weapon with two blades.

Sora's eyes widened. "Kairi!"

The cloak stepped back, the ice propelling her backwards like she had caught the wind. Kairi likewise stumbled away, colliding lightly with Sora, who had faded his weapon.

"What the..." the ice girl gasped.

"Who are you?!" Kairi shouted. "Why do you... What's going on?!"

"I know!" Sora agreed. "No, I _don't_ know! I..."

A familiar pair of blades chose that moment to carve out of the ice, and Kairi turned as the armoured girl Niju shot out of the water, leaving a spinning disc of ice in the water. She rushed towards the cloaked girl, and the two of them locked weapons again.

Kairi swore, sheathed her blades, and turned to Sora. "Less jaw, more claw." She reached forward and grabbed his crown.

The cloaked girl flipped over her opponent and struck at her, sending her skidding as a gap opened up in the water.

And a surge of dark light caused her to turn, a scream tearing from her lips.

"Who _are _you?!" she shrieked.

Sora stepped past Kairi menacingly. His hair surged jet-black before flaring with crimson, rising like fire on night. His eyes went from sky-blue to blood-red, a ring of gold connecting iris to pupil. He smirked menacingly, causing a fang to poke over his lip as his fingers sharpened into claws like pin tumbler keys - and he raised his right hand to the cut.

"Someone from the dark," he called back.

There was a rattling sound like a drill. Sora and the cloaked girl both glanced down through the ice to see Niju carving her way into the stone below, revealing an underwater passage. Neither of them blamed her.

Sora glanced back at Kairi. "Keep out of this one," he stated, "if you want to keep your heart beating."

Kairi's eyes widened. "What are you-?"

"You have enough trouble against brute force," he stated. "You don't stand a chance against an elemental. And when it comes to elementals, an abominable snowgirl is top of the list on versatility."

**_Bite-Sized Monster Encyclopedia: Abominable Snowgirl_**_  
A weather demon who appears out of the swirling snows of blizzards. Known throughout Japan for freezing travellers to death and mysteriously kidnapping men who strike their fancy. Feared for their reputation and cold pitilessness. They can bend snow and ice to their will._

Kairi stepped back and watched as Sora turned back towards the girl, who braced her Key before her. A look of concentration rose on his face as he stepped forward, onto the ice, without slipping a centimetre.

"You're powerful," he admitted. "Even with a Keyblade, there aren't many snowgirls who could cross blades with a fighter like that and get away scot-free."

The cloak rushed forward, her Key back and her claws before her, and Sora only let her approach. As the Keyblade flew towards his helm, he stepped to the side and slipped his right hand between the shafts of the Keyblade, closing his fingers around the one that raised to form the kanji. He continued his spin and set the palm of his left hand against the palm of the ice claws the girl had formed on her right, clenching his fingers just enough to dig his key-claws into the ice.

A gasped passed through the girl's lips.

Sora arced into a spin, pulled the Keyblade out of her hands, and hurled her back across the ice. She hit the stone that circled the frozen pond and hit the ice.

"Who are you?" he demanded, whirling her weapon against his palm. "And... why do you have a Keyblade?"

Light wrapped around the weapon in his hand, and he turned towards it as it faded. A surge of energy caused him to turn back to see a bolt of icy fire searing towards him, and he raised his left arm before him. The impact sent him skidding backwards along the ice, and as the embers parted around his arm they shifted. The flame became frozen air, so cold that a coating of ice formed instantly, racing up his arm.

The girl got to her feet, forming her Keyblade in her left hand as the spikes flared out from her helm once again. "Not your concern," she snapped.

Sora growled as the ice neared his helm and drew his arm skyward before flaring it down, causing the ice to shatter from the impact as it hit the stone. He raised his gaze. "Then let's not waste any time," he taunted.

The girl only raised her Keyblade, launching another bolt of icy fire towards him. He evaded this one, as did Kairi, causing it to impact the wall. A frosting of ice coursed a web across the wall, causing Kairi to take a step away from it.

Not paying attention, she ended up stepping onto the ice.

Sora dashed forward, claws back as the girl let him approach. When he was close enough that he could reach out and grab her by the throat, a surge of ice flared up before her, forming a protective wall. Sora was the first to admit that he ran into that headfirst and ended up stumbling back from the impact, providing a perfect opening for her to phase right through the ice and swing her Key at him.

He managed to catch the blade between two fingers.

The cloaked girl stumbled back at that. "How did you...?"

Sora finished reaching up to his helm and rubbed the impact point before raising his gaze. Darkness gleamed in his eyes as he shot forward, and the girl leapt away, causing his first swing to miss. This started a frenzy of strikes that the girl had no choice but to leap away from, sometimes raising walls of ice when she wasn't fast enough. At one point, she had to phase through the ice under her feet to escape a blow, only to surface on the other side of him, completely dry, and swing her Key.

Natually, Sora caught that blow on the claws of his right hand before striking back at her with his left.

The girl raised her clawed hand and caught that strike against it, trying to fight it. Icy fire began to blaze in the palm of her claws, sending cold racing up Sora's arm, but he didn't even react, instead forcing her back and onto her knees.

It was then that the cloaked girl caught sight of Kairi, watching nervously, just at the edge of the ice.

Without warning, a flare of ice ripped up around Kairi. She screamed, looking down as a hand of pure ice wrapped around her ankle, sharpened fingers digging into her skin. The ice shifted into a straight coating, coursing up her leg, and as she tried to grab for her blades, the chill reached them and sealed them onto her back.

"Kairi!" Sora glared and turned to the snowgirl. A sudden force coursed through him as he pulled the Keyblade out of her hand and slammed the guard into her helm. She gasped and collapsed as Sora turned and hurled it towards Kairi, aiming for the point where the ice emerged from the ground.

The weapon was moments from striking the ice when light wrapped around it; it phased right through, for it wasn't there by the time it crossed that boundary. A set of claws digging into his ankle caused Sora to shout, glaring to see the cloaked girl forming the Keyblade in her right hand. She drew her hand out of his leg, causing ice to race up from the bleeding cuts. She phased through the ice as Sora swung at her, surfacing at the other end of the cave.

Sora only lashed his other foot against the ice, shattering it, as he turned and dashed towards Kairi. The ice had nearly reached her helm, and as Sora neared he prepared to shatter the hold on her, as well.

An instant pillar of ice shot up from beside him, sending him spiralling to the side.

The ice wrapped around Kairi's helm, causing her to go still.

Sora raised his gaze to see the cloaked girl _blazing_ with icy fire. "No one - _NO ONE_ - makes a fool out of me," she snapped. "You ignore my questions, you play me for a moron when your little girlfriend shows up, you would have cost me a battle if that foolish Niju hadn't been too scared to-"

She was cut off when unrivaled monstrous energy ripped up around Sora. He got to his feet, his claws gleaming as he gave the snowgirl an absolutely _murderous_ glare. Ice started to crack around him as he crossed his arms before him._  
_

The crimson in his hair faded, turning straight jet-black as his eyes lit up with darkness.

"_Hands..._"

He brought back one set of claws and angled them towards the ice, causing the snowgirl's eyes to widen.

"**_OFF!_**"

Sora's fingers shot into the frost like a bullet, piercing the solid three-inch cold barrier like a sword through paper. The ice split open as though it were little more than tissue, the water being forced down several metres from the incomparable power of the strike.

The tear in the ice reached the cloaked girl, and she gave a bloodcurdling scream as she was sent flying into the wall. Her claws and the helm of spikes _shattered on impact_ as she hit the stone so hard that her nose was three inches away from the edge of the impact silhouette she had formed. Her Keyblade impaled itself in the stone next to her head, sinking in until only the seashell at the end of the chain remained.

The vampire grabbed the edge of the ice gap and leapt, the air around him shrieking as he raised his hands to claw her open...

And a wall of fire opened up before him.

This was no cold flame; this was a heated force that sent Sora flying. He landed on the ice he had just left, his legs catching on the edge. He raised his gaze to see an opening in the wall above where he had just left. Standing there was another figure in a black cloak, almost identical to the snowgirl's - except his was trimmed with bright crimson, and the emblem that had been on the girl's left shoulder was on his right. His face looked a lot like Sora's, but it was far more hardened. His hair was a golden blonde, and it was arced in a wave of spikes to his right.

"That's enough, _Shi-oh._"

He dropped down onto the stone edge where Sora had entered, which was about the only place he could drop down to that wasn't _into_ the water that was now blazing open below the ice. He glanced towards Kairi, whose frozen figure had been forced against the wall, and raised a hand towards her. Steam began to emerge from her figure as the ice melted, pooling at her feet, and the slow defrost caused her to gradually fall onto her knees. Her body was chilled blue - frostbite from the casing of ice - and she looked as though something had struck her eyes, as she was wincing weakly.

He turned towards the girl stuck in the wall. He leapt forward, landing on the wall as he set a hand on the shaft of her Keyblade for support. A moment later, he leapt away and landed on the stone again. The girl was in his arms, leaning weakly against his chest and looking as though she had been beaten to hell and back.

Her eyes opened faintly. "_Roku... Rokusasu..."_

The boy only pulled her closer, careful not to apply too much pressure. "It's alright, _Shi-oh_..."

"Who are you?" Sora demanded.

The cloaked boy turned. "Roxas," he replied. "This is Xion." He said her name _Shi-on_. "I understand you've been looking for the attacker that's been going around recently. I can tell you that if you wish to confront Niju Blade about it, you need look no further than the Monster Tree, where she is no doubt recovering from the injuries she will have received from the pressure of the water surge you caused."

The Keyblade now faded from the wall it had been embedded in. "If we should meet again," Roxas stated, "I would prefer it that you do not harm _Shi-oh_. At all. I can excuse this... occurrence, for she made the first move and attacked you and your ally. However, if you should again inflict upon her any torment..."

His eyes, which until now had been a cold blue like Xion's, now blazed with a fiery sunset gold.

"You can expect the nurses at the infirmary to ask which volcano you have been to."

It was then that he turned and leapt up to the gap in the wall, leaving Sora and Kairi there with a huge crevice around them, water below it.

Sora turned to Kairi, who was shuddering weakly, and slowly picked her up as Roxas had done with Xion. "Can you open your eyes?" he prompted.

Kairi tried to, but a gasp escaped her lips, and she shut them - tight enough that Sora couldn't have _made_ her. "I..."

"It's alright," Sora insisted. "Hold on, I've got to get you out of here." He turned and leapt to the stone Roxas had recently vacated, then dashed up the wall until he was at the tunnel that he had come in through.

A movement caused him to glance down to see Kairi reaching up to his chain. In her hand was his rosario crown, dangling from her palm by the loop, and weakly, she managed to close her fingers around the string of single links and close it into a fist.

There was a _clink_ of metal - and as she lowered her hand, Sora saw that she had managed to close the rosario onto his necklace.

He sighed and turned back to the tunnel, and started to walk as he felt Kairi pass out in his arms.

"Thank you... for coming to help me."

The vampyric power started to fade around him, and he smirked.

"Even if you were asking for trouble."

+x+x+x+

When Kairi woke up, it was well into the afternoon. She felt incredibly weak, but she managed to get to her feet and make her way out of the dorm buildings, seeing the sun setting in the distance.

As it happened, she ran into Naminé on her way out. The witch looked surprised to see her. "Kairi!" she exclaimed. "I didn't think you'd be up and about!"

Kairi shook her head. "I didn't, either," she admitted.

Naminé fell quiet. "Do you remember what happened yesterday?"

"Yesterday...?" Kairi's eyes widened as she realized that she had been out for over a day. "Yeah," she murmured. "Just until Sora started walking out of there..." She shook her head. "That girl, Xion... She had a _Keyblade_, didn't she?"

"She did," she admitted. "You've been out ever since Sora came out of that tunnel with you in his arms _while he was __waking up from his switchover_. Xion wanted to see you. Apologize to you. You and Sora."

Kairi raised her gaze. "Apologize?"

Naminé nodded.

"Didn't... Sora kind of... kick her into a wall?"

Naminé nodded again.

Kairi lowered her gaze. "I... don't really know how to react to that."

"Let me help," Naminé prompted. "Come on, let's go."

She took Kairi's hand and started to lead her, causing Kairi to react. "Wh-where are we going?"

"The club room," Naminé replied. "Come on."

+x+x+x+

When they arrived at the club room, Kairi found Sora and Riku there, talking with Xion. The night-haired girl raised her gaze when the door opened, seeing Kairi there, and got to her feet.

"How do you feel?" she prompted.

Kairi shuddered. "Better," she murmured.

"Good." Xion sighed. "Hey, sorry... about yesterday."

"I'm still trying to figure out how that works," Kairi mused. "I mean... I'm kind of responsible for you getting your ass handed to you."

A chuckle emerged from Xion. "_I'm_ still trying to figure out how _that_ works," he countered. "So we're even." Her smile faltered. "I attacked you guys," she explained. "I was angry, and battle-driven, and I attacked you and Sora for the most _ludicrous_ reasons. I..."

Kairi shook her head. "Save your breath," she murmured. "Apology accepted."

The smile lit back up on Xion's face.

"If you two are done making up," Riku called, "come check out our new paper." He raised what looked like a finished copy.

Kairi stepped forward, Xion following. "I saw your paper last month," the snowgirl mused. "It was pretty good."

"Thanks," Kairi mused, accepting the paper from Riku.

"When Sora made sure you were safe, we went and confronted Niju like Roxas told us," Naminé explained. "After seeing _clawslinger_ Sora for even a moment, she spilled everything."

Kairi looked over the paper. "Alright," she mused. A thought occured to her, and she sighed.

"Let me guess, I'm on print duty."

* * *

Draco: You can squee now, Princesss.

Why, _yes_, clawslinger Sora _can_ send an opponent flying with enough force to embed them over a foot into the wall by tearing open the surface under their feet with an open-hand strike. _Especially_ if he's pissed off.

Hope you all like it! Enjoy.


	8. The Assassin's Girlfriend

Draco: You get twelve guesses. The first eleven don't count.

Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 8: The Assassin's Girlfriend**

Newspaper day. We're talking about a stack of copies of what is basically a few paper folds layered together. Those paper folds will have some kind of recent occurrence written down, possibly with a photo or sketch to illustrate it. Add in a few tips on your typical everyday hobbies, maybe a tourist attraction or two. Boring, right?

This.

IS.

_YOKAI!_

That was, due to the news club's previous experience, a stack of _several hundred _copies. A few days was enough time for word to get around about the hot freshman Chikai, girl-in-white Kioku, Kingdom with the Key, and fiery beast Kurai beating up one of the most annoying fighters in the school. Said group was also already well-known for being the group that hung around handing out newspapers - not to mention being joined by 'SETZEEER! AAAH!' when their first few papers was depleted - and the freshman Chikai had explicitly stated that their paper was out monthly.

Long story short, Kairi wasn't perched on the front edge of the table this time.

+x+x+x+

"You're kidding me. You mean to tell me that little brat is sitting outside, right now, surrounded by _a crowd_?"

A small group of figures in sleek black were gathered in a dark white room, surrounding a single crystal ball. From there, they had an easy view all over the school - and one such member was currently focusing the crystal ball straight at the news club gathered at the school gates.

That particular member had silver-blue hair that drifted over his eyes. He had a book in one hand, and the other was set against the base of the pedestal on which the crystal ball sat. "Indeed," he stated in response to the question. "Chikai seems to have drawn quite a crowd, hasn't she. Although it seems the Jenova brothers are deliberately avoiding her..."

"Doesn't matter," the snapper stated. "She's got herself a web, just like I knew she would. And that web is going to be my first target." She got to her feet.

"Sit down," the bookworm commanded. "Last time you charged after her, you made nothing out of it. I told you, you will not be going anywhere until-"

"Until she picks up a mission, right?"

Both of them turned to see someone stepping inside. This lanky figure had crimson hair carved into multiple spikes like a meteor, illuminated from the light of the crystal ball, and he had marks under his eyes like teardrops. "Well, then, looks like everyone's gonna be happy today." He drew out a small card from under his sleeve and flicked it towards the overeager sadist in the shadows.

The sadist caught it with a swipe. "What's this?" she stated.

"A mission," the optimist replied. "Figured if you're so eager then I'd let you do it."

"_Target: Kairi Chikai_," the sadist read aloud. "_Objective: Demoralize target. Physical damage permitted. Reward-_ Holy Foudre," she exclaimed. "That's it, you gotta let me do this one, Zexion."

The bookworm, Zexion raised his gaze. The sadist tossed him the card and glanced at it. "You're good," he mused, getting to his feet. "Might as well watch how this excursion goes."

+x+x+x+

"SETZEEER! AAAH!"

Kairi winced, turning to see the news club SiC stepping towards the stand with a large stack of papers in hand. Behind him, to Kairi's surprise, was Xion, who was struggling with her own, slightly smaller, stack of papers. "Good timing," Kairi mused. "Lend us a hand, will you?"

Xion set down her papers and sighed, glancing to Kairi as Setzer started handing out papers. "Am I allowed to give it a read?" she asked, "or do I have to get in... um..." She glanced at the crowd. "...line?" she finished awkwardly.

Sora stepped towards her, expertly swiping the copy from Setzer's jacket and handing it to Xion. "Nah, take it and run," he prompted. "Now we're proper even."

Xion blushed. "Thanks," she murmured, taking off.

Kairi, Naminé, and Riku all managed to glare at Sora and continue handing out papers at the same time. Sora didn't notice until he heard Riku start moving at newmoon speed to handle his onslaught. "What?" he asked, glancing at Kairi.

Naminé slammed her notebook onto his head.

"And you chastisized _me _for _slapping_ a vampire?" Kairi reprimanded.

"He's not _in _vampire mode," Naminé retaliated, going back to handing out papers. "Doesn't count."

Xion retreated with the paper to find Roxas waiting against a nearby tree. Xion handed him the paper and hid awkwardly on the other side of the tree as he looked over the front page. "So, how's things going with the news club?" he prompted.

"Could be worse," Xion replied.

"You don't seem to be too mad at Sora for impaling a wall with you," Roxas observed, opening up the paper.

"I asked for it," the snowgirl reminded him.

Roxas shrugged. "You think so?"

Xion glanced over her shoulder. "You _said_ so."

"...You have a point there," Roxas admitted, unable to come up with a proper argument. He glanced back towards the news club gathering to see the crowd was not thinning out. "Did this happen last time?"

"I wasn't there last time," Xion replied, watching the crowd as he was. "You'd know more than I do."

It was then that a shout from the crowd caused everything to go still. Everyone at the stand - including Riku, who was halfway through handing three newspapers to a few girls - turned to see someone in the crowd fall to the ground. The entire crowd parted to reveal three figures there in slick black. One with fiery red hair was in a waistcoat that was tight enough to show he was quite lanky; one with silver blue on his helm in a vest with the sleeves rolled up, and black jeans so dark they hardly looked like jeans; and one who wore her bright blond hair in antennae, with a longcoat that trailed to the ground, and stiletto heels.

The blond had a set of knives in her hand as she raised her gaze.

Kairi could have sworn she'd seen the blond before.

The knives were driven into the ground as she lashed out towards Kairi. This maneuver sent up arcs of earth that caused Kairi to yelp, and she leapt out of the way as those arcs of earth completely _shattered_ their handouts table. The papers were sent flying as the blond stepped towards them, and Kairi stumbled to her feet. With one hand she drew one of her blades; with the other she snapped rapidly - for now she _knew_ she had seen this blond before, and she knew _where_ she had seen this blond before, and was completely blanking on her name.

"Larxene!" she exclaimed as the name surfaced, drawing her other blade preparedly. "You're that chick who split a tree with dirt at the start of the school year!"

"And you're that _webspinner_ Chikai. I _knew_ you were going to be trouble," Larxene snapped back. "You may not have Jenova flapping around you, but this hound is hardly any safer. And what's with this crowd?"

Kairi raised an eyebrow. "You never heard of a fanboy?"

Larxene raised her knives to Kairi's neck. "Look, _Chikai_," she snapped. "I don't care what you're going to call it. You're _spinning a web_. Look at you, you got the Keyslinger, you got Kurai, you got this white witch backing you up-"

A card drove itself into Larxene's shoulder. This distracted her long enough for Kairi to back up. Riku then proceeded to kick her in the stomach.

Sora stepped forward with his Keyblade in hand. "Not sure who you think you are," he admitted, "but if you've got a problem, do _everyone _a favour and save it for after class. We're trying to hand out papers here."

Larxene lashed out at him.

The vampire clashed his Key against the knives in one hand and then the knives in the other. Then he arced into a spin and landed a hit strong enough to throw Larxene back through the gap in the crowd that she had opened up.

Sora whirled his Keyblade in hand and perched it over his shoulder like a tough guy.

And Kairi thought the crowd couldn't get any louder...

+x+x+x+

"That was less than effective," the firehead mused.

Larxene slapped him. Her knives were still in her hand.

"I deserved that," he mused, reaching up to his face. "Hey, relax," he prompted. "He pretty much _invited_ you to come mess with him later today, didn't he?"

As they continued to speak, they had no idea they were being watched.

"Kairi knows Larxene?" Xion mused curiously.

"I guess so," Roxas observed. "But what are she and Axel doing here?"

Xion glanced around. "I thought I'd seen Zexion in the crowd. Didn't you?"

Roxas huffed. "More than likely he decided not to get involved," he mused. "Come on, let's see what they're up to."

The two of them stepped forward. Larxene looked like she was going to take a swing at Axel when he caught sight of them, and the look in his eyes was enough to cause her to turn.

"Hey there, Roxas, Xion," Axel called. "What are you guys up to?"

"Saw you in the crowd," Roxas replied. "Figured I'd come see what got Larxene her ass handed to her."

Larxene lashed out at him, but Xion caught the strikes on a few claws of ice.

Axel set her hand on Larxene's shoulder. "Come on, Larx, lighten up," he insisted. "We were given a mission," he said to answer Roxas' question. "Someone wants Chikai down in the dumps. Got it memorized?" He tapped his forehead tauntingly.

"Count us out," Xion mused. "I'm not doing anything to get on Kairi's bad side."

A scoff passed through Larxene's lips. "You don't seriously believe her crap about being a vampire, do you?"

Xion's eyes widened. "Well, that explains how she made a friend out of this one," she mused.

Larxene raised an eyebrow. "Wait, what?"

"Sora Kingdom," Roxas explained. "He'll kick your ass in a heartbeat - and that's assuming yours hasn't stopped when he starts flaring."

"I'll be the judge of that," Larxene criticized, stepping away.

Axel sighed, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "See you guys," he mused. "She's gonna get on someone's nerves sooner or later."

He took off, leaving Roxas and Xion standing there on their own.

"I don't like how they do things," Xion murmured. "I never did like how they do things."

Roxas sighed. "If they don't get in our way," he prompted, "that's all that really matters."

Xion wasn't so sure; but just then, the bell went off, and she and Roxas - as well as Sora, Kairi, Riku, Naminé, and really everyone in the crowd - realized that they were going to be late for class if they didn't get going.

+x+x+x+

The news club got right to work when the club period came around. Xion and Roxas had decided to pop in since their club was 'taking an off day', and the first thing that came to mind was helping out the news club. Everyone welcomed them warmly.

Sora dropped his pencil and cleared a workspace for Xion.

Kairi picked up Naminé's notebook and crashed it over his head.

Xion sat down with a heavy blush on her face as Roxas pulled up a chair and sat on it backwards. "You guys have a new story already?" he mused.

"Nah, just doin' the extras," Riku replied. "Big stories and deadlines... don't seem to get along. You should have seen how rushed we were for the one with Niju."

"You mean like your 'Top Visits in the Human World' bit?" Roxas prompted darkly.

"Those were purely from my personal experience," Riku defended, noticing his tone. "Didn't you see the disclaimer? _This column has been written by Riku Kurai. It expresses the views and opinions of the columnist, not necessarily those of the Yokai Academy student body_." He picked up a photo. "Have you ever been to Altar Cave, Roxas?"

Roxas nodded. "As it happens, I have," he prompted. Then he countered, "Have you ever been to Midgar?"

"No," Riku admitted. "That's probably why it wasn't included."

"What about Wutai?"

"...No."

"Pravoka? Bafsk? Ordon? Rose Town? _Tokyo_?"

Riku sighed. "Fine, then," he snapped, dropping his pencil and shoving his work supplies at Roxas. "_You_ do the column."

Kairi raised her gaze to see Roxas looking at the supplies and sliding his chair away. "I'll pass. I can't do that in one club period and no one can work with a half-written piece by someone else."

The werewolf opened his mouth, then closed it. "Point taken." He grabbed all his stuff and pulled it away from Roxas.

Roxas turned to Naminé, who was focused on her work and letting her hair drift before her to cover her face. As Kairi watched, he stepped forward and glanced at her paper. She seemed to be doing a small sample art akin to her tips column in the paper, and as she lifted her pencil of the page Roxas mused over her shoulder, "Nice work as usual."

Naminé squealed and spun, driving the eraser end of her pencil into Roxas' chin. He grunted with a wince and reached up to the impact point with his left hand, causing his sleeve to fall down his arm slightly.

"Sorry," Naminé said hurriedly, her face turning an embarrassed crimson red.

"Ah, it's nothing," Roxas insisted, lowering his hand. A gleam caught Kairi's eye, and she raised her gaze to see what looked like a bracelet peeking out from Roxas' sleeve as he drew it back over.

He glanced at Naminé's art. "Your work's pretty good," he mused. "Were you going to make the art tips a normal thing?"

"Um, maybe," the witch murmured nervously. "I thought I'd wait and see... you know, what kind of reception I got... what people thought of it..."

Roxas chuckled. "Relax," he insisted. "It was a compliment." He thought about her reply. "Why don't you guys hold a little 'what do you want to see in the extras' vote from your readers?" he said, turning to the others. "Maybe see what you get?"

Sora thought about it for a moment. "That... is an _excellent_ idea," he mused.

+x+x+x+

"Hey, Rox, wait up."

Roxas came to an abrupt stop, turning to see Axel stepping towards him. "Heard you and Xion were hanging out with the news club." he prompted. "Well?"

"Yeah, she was," Roxas replied. "I mean, we were. Just during the club time, though - we had an off day. Why? Larxene getting pissed about it?"

Axel didn't comment on the slip. Roxas had a tendency to do that when it came to Xion. At first Axel thought it was a guilty mistake, but as it turned out Roxas was (or at least used to be) the 'background' guy, which meant a lot of the other students didn't realize he was there until Xion asked him something. That left the impression of Xion being the only one there, even to Roxas himself.

"Just wanted you guys to stay out of the way," he replied. "Told you, she's got a mission, and you _have not_ seen Larx in full mission mode."

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "Um, yeah I have," he mused. He had actually been on the receiving end of one of Larxene's missions.

Axel chuckled. "No," he mused. "You haven't." He tapped his forehead. "Got it memorized?"

It was at that moment that Roxas' eyes went wide, and he spun and took off, leaving Axel standing there with a confused look on his face.

+x+x+x+

Xion had decided to meet up the news club after classes, and the five of them were currently hanging out near the Monster Tree. Naminé - who had been both relieved and disappointed to find that Roxas wouldn't be joining them - was sketching again, Sora was sparring with Riku, and Kairi was just lounging about. Xion kind of just floated until the werewolf and vampire both called a break - then she stepped forward and asked, "Mind if I join you?"

Riku and Sora both were surprised at that, but Sora only shrugged and replied, "I don't see why not. Grab your blade."

Xion nodded and was about to call her weapon when a tearing sound emerged from nearby.

Kairi's gaze shot up to see arcs of dirt tearing towards them.

She shot to her feet and leapt away as the arcs shot past, _just_ missing the tree behind her. Sora and Riku both spun, bracing their weapons as they saw Larxene stepping towards them. She had a menacing glare on her face, and Xion only stepped away as she neared the group, aiming straight for Kairi.

The human girl grabbed her blades, but she didn't raise them in combat position. "What do you want, Larxene?" she demanded.

The sadist didn't respond. She just kept walking.

Kairi raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to answer my question?"

Larxene wasn't slowing down.

Kairi stepped forward. "Are you asleep or some-"

Without warning, Larxene appeared before Kairi, closing her hand around the girl's neck and raising her into the air. Everyone yelped as she spun once, twice, three times before hurling her into the Monster Tree at high speeds.

The impact sent Kairi plummeting towards unconsciousness as she bounced off the Yokai Academy landmark and hit the ground below.

"Kairi!" Sora and Riku both dashed at Larxene, weapons ready, but the sadist only swept past both attacks and lashed out with stiletto kicks that sent them flying. Soul Eater impaled itself next to Riku's head as he gripped the puncture on his arm, and Sora used his Keyblade to help him get to his feet as he reached for the wound on his back.

Larxene had yet to say a word as she raised her hands, fingers splayed.

Four knives ripped up from her palm, forming claws between her fingers as she closed them into fists.

Riku spun around and swore. "Son of a _bitch! _You're...!?"

Sora grit his teeth. "A monstrel," he muttered. "The hybrid monster!"

_**Bite-Sized Monster Encyclopedia: Monstrels  
**Monsters of mongrel ancestry. The most common monsters. Their abilities vary widely, but many can morph their bodies, even turning their limbs into weapons._

If Larxene heard Sora's observation, she certainly didn't react to it. She only stepped towards Kairi again, driving her knives into the human girls' shoulder. Kairi gave a scream as Larxene forcibly lifted her into the air, blood dripping from the impact point.

The dirt flared up around Larxene, forcing her back as Kairi fell and hit the ground. Naminé stepped towards her, drawing out a few bandages as Riku and Sora dashed forward again, weapons flaring. Larxene's eyes gleamed menacingly as she lashed out with a flurry of kicks and slices, but Riku and Sora only parried, dodged, and arced around her until they found right behind her.

Sora swung at her left.

Larxene caught it with the knives of her right hand.

Riku swung at her right.

Larxene caught it with the knives of her left hand.

A tremor coursed through her body; then the sadist arced into a whirling spin, sending the two flying into a spiral as they hit the ground.

Kairi struggled to get to her feet as Larxene stepped forward menacingly.

She probably didn't count on Sora swiping at her feet, planting her face in the dirt.

The sadist spun to see Riku and Sora back on their feet. The two of them glanced at each other and nodded; then they crossed their weapons, causing them to spark against each other as they shot forward.

Larxene shot after them, swinging for the weapons' owners, but Riku and Sora only broke into a slide, parting their weapons to hook them on Larxene's knives. The force managed to drag the sadist to the ground as they shot back to their feet, leaping away from the heel-biting strikes as Larxene tried to rise. Arcs of dirt wrapped around her, continually forcing her to the ground, and both of the swordsmen turned towards the tree. Naminé's pencil was racing across the paper as Kairi got to her feet, picked up her fallen blades, and prepared herself.

There was a distortion in the flying dirt; then Larxene was standing a foot away from Kairi, driving her knives into the girl's arms. Kairi screamed as Larxene drove her stilletto into Kairi's stomach, arcing into a flip that sent Kairi flying. She collided with Sora, causing the two of them to tumble across the ground as Larxene stepped towards them.

"What's the matter, little _vampire?_" Larxene's voice was dark and demented. "I've always wanted to test my strength against one of you." She stepped forward, crossing her arms before her. "Too bad you're just _TRASH!_"

She raised her knives to strike.

And ice began to race down her arm.

Larxene spun to see Xion standing before the Monster Tree, an aura of cold flame rippling around her. Her right hand had become claws of ice - in her left was her Keyblade. She had seen the blood on Larxene's knives and used it to her advantage, hoping to distract Larxene long enough for Sora to go into his wild vampire mode.

"Stay away from them," Xion snapped as ice wrapped around her hair, forming menacing spikes across her helm.

Half a second passed; then Larxene was right in front of her, and only a quick flare of icy fire prevented Xion from being impaled on the sadist's knives. She clashed the blows against her claws and tried to go in for a strike, but Larxene was lightning-fast, dodging blows and forcing Xion back until she was right up against the landmark.

Larxene brought her hand back to drive it into Xion's skull.

And found them caught on a dragon wingblade.

Riku grabbed Larxene by the back of her longcoat and launched the sadist into a flip, leaving her facedown on the ground. She tried to lash out at Riku, but the werewolf only leapt into the air, hurling Soul Eater at her. Larxene rolled away as the blade impaled itself where her back had been, leaping at Riku. The werewolf dodged each blow, moving faster and faster with each evasion until he landed a blurred kick that sent Larxene skidding across the ground.

A fur-streaked Riku pulled Soul Eater out of the ground and whirled it to a forehand grip before growling menacingly.

Larxene glanced at Riku, Naminé, and Xion before turning back to Sora, who was helping Kairi get to her feet. Larxene's attacks had left Kairi weak, and she was having enough trouble sitting upright, let alone standing on her feet.

"Kairi," Sora prompted. "Take off the rosario. Please. We can't..."

He was interrupted by his own shout as Larxene drove her knives into his shoulder. She raised him into the air, causing Kairi to stumble away as Larxene hurled Sora to the ground single-handedly. No one had seen Larxene dash up to him - what was she _doing_?

Xion hurled her Keyblade towards Larxene, as she had seen Sora do before. Larxene spun and slashed at the weapon, knocking it to the ground. Xion responded by raising her ice-clawed hand and launching bursts of icy fire at Larxene. The first one hit home on her knives, but she only shattered them with a flex before dashing forward, sweeping between shots until she was right up in Xion's face and driving her blades into the snowgirl's side. Xion gave a scream as Larxene proceeded to hurl her into the tree.

Larxene only huffed, turning away.

And a fireball hit her in the face.

Everyone's eyes went wide, turning towards Kairi and Sora.

Standing between the fallen duo was Roxas, his left hand aimed right at Larxene. His fingers were smoking, and he had a menacing glare on his face. There was darkness shifting around his right hand, and as he spoke, no one wanted to know what he was going to do.

"Stay away from her."

Larxene was quiet for a moment; then she rushed towards him, her knives searing towards his face.

Roxas only stepped to the side, letting Larxene swing at the air he had been; then he arced into a roundhouse kick that connected with Larxene's lower back and _ignited_. The flaming kick sent Larxene flying towards the school as he raised his smoking hand before him and swept his right hand out to his side.

Slowly, Larxene got to her feet, glaring at Roxas; then she turned away and took off, rushing towards the school.

Everyone was staring in awe as Roxas lowered his hands. The smoke stopped emitting from his left as he turned towards all of them. "Didn't think she'd be like that," he murmured, scratching the back of his head nervously. "You guys alright?"

Riku bit his lip. He had taken the least blows of the group and he still wasn't unscathed - Larxene had landed a few glancing blows, and his kick had caused her knives to run across his arm. "We're all alive," Riku replied, "and I think everyone's mostly conscious."

"You just faced _Larxene Kaminari_," Roxas stated. "She is a _murderess_ when she gets serious. Your blade has to stick out the other side of the impact point before she'll acknowledge the wound. If you're all conscious, that's considered alright." He glanced around. "Let's get out of here and hope she doesn't come back for round two."

+x+x+x+

Roxas wasn't kidding.

Which is why the tips of two blades embedded themselves in the wall behind Larxene's arm.

"Boy, do I hate liars."

The weapon was drawn out as Larxene fell to the ground. That was the fourth strike in a row - one on each of her limbs, leaving four identicall scars. The moment she had approached who she had assumed to be her client - a long-haired pretty boy with a blade at his waist - he had drawn the weapon as the fastest brute anyone had ever seen grabbed her from behind. She had been dragged to a soundproofed room in the core of the freshman dorms.

Larxene grit her teeth. "I'm telling you the truth," she stated. "I attacked Chikai. I stabbed her with my blades and threw her to the ground repeatedly. The only reason I didn't continue was that group of losers who kept fighting her battles for her."

It was dark, but that didn't stop her interrogator - who, it seemed, was the real client - from glaring at her from under the silver hair that draped before his eyes. "Is... that right?"

A sound between a grunt and a gasp passed through Larxene's lips. The wounds were deep, and trying to move her arms or legs was a bad idea. "If you wanted me to eliminate her," she protested, "you should have said so."

The client laughed. "I didn't want you to _eliminate_ her," he mused, stepping forward. His eyes began to pulsate. "I wanted you to _break_ her. _Crush_ her heart. I wanted you to _ruin_ her with such torment she'd _never_ see the light in _anything_ **again**_._"

"So you want her out of your hair. Is that it, Jenova?"

All three of the Jenova brothers - Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz - turned to see a figure standing at the entrance to the room. The meter-and-a-half of hallway before the door meant he was cast in darker shadows than the rest of the room, but it wasn't a problem of where he was so much as what his face looked like. He was dressed in a vibrant white robe with blue trim, standing out in the shadows, and his helm was adorned by a spreading hat with a mystic-looking emblem on it. In his right hand was a long silver staff with a gold half-ring at the top that circled where his hand gripped it.

Twin cocks of a gun caused him to turn to see Loz and Yazoo both standing there, aiming a Velvet Nightmare at him. "Come now," the newcomer prompted. "Is that any way to treat someone hoping to lend you a hand?"

Kadaj raised his right hand, causing his brothers to lower their weapons. "You got a problem with Chikai?" he prompted. "Get in line."

"Not just Kairi Chikai," the guy in the shadows stated. "Haven't you had problems with her allies in the news club as well?"

"...Yeah," Kadaj admitted. "Sora Kingdom. Naminé Kioku. Riku Kurai."

The newcomer seemed as though the list was not complete. "What about those other additions? Roxas Kaigara, and... what was her name?" Here he turned to Larxene.

Another gasp. "Xion," she replied, saying the name _Shy-on_. "She's never given her last name.

An irritable growl from her client. "She's got _more_ allies?" Kadaj protested.

"Got a way to take them all down in one fell swoop," the figure in the shadows stated. "Have you ever fought Miss Chikai yourself?"

"Kingdom got in the way," Kadaj replied.

Larxene sighed. "The whole damn crowd keeps striking her fights for her," she muttered.

"I've seen her fight," the ally stated. "She's hardly mediocre at hand-to-hand, and she doesn't stand a chance against an armed foe. She's cut by nothing more than wooden weapons. One strike is enough to knock her down. And her blood..." A chuckle emerged from the darkness.

Kadaj raised an eyebrow. "What about her blood?"

"It keeps flowing," the newcomer replied. "Monster blood holds in place, suppresses the wound. But her blood soaks into her garments, trickles across her skin. She can't get in a lot of fights - she's always covered in bandages because _that's how long it takes her wounds to heal_."

The swordman's eyes widened. "You mean..."

It was now that the figure in the shadows raised his left hand. A ring of wood was in that hand, and within that ring was a photo of the subject of their conversation.

"Kairi Chikai. Freshman. Leonheart's class. And she's _human_."

* * *

Draco: I'm going to address this now, before anyone brings it up - Xion wields her Keyblade left-handed in my works because she's the only Keyblade wielder to _ever_ be shown wielding a Keyblade left-handed without another Keyblade in their right hand in a finished work. (Ven was a lefty in the promo video in KHIIFM, but that's not a finished work).

Alright, Chapter 8 concludes Volume 2. I'm going to go fight the Cloud of Darkness. Maybe. I might give up, go and STOP USING THE GODDAMN SAGE. I don't know whether to blame Square Enix for nerfing the Sage in the DS version or myself for using him anyway. A Sage is only good for one who _wants_ that many sorcerers.

Hope you all enjoy!


	9. Unmasked

Draco: Alright, I got this up faster than I thought. Alpha damn it, Cloud of Darkness! You and your whole crew! Also, I! HATE!_ ACTIVE! **TIME! BATTLE!**_

Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 9: Unmasked**

"Kairi Chikai. Freshman. Leonheart's class. And she's _human_."

The words lingered in the air of the room. Larxene was staring at the shadows where the informant was standing. Kadaj had his twin-bladed _Souba_ in his left hand in a forehand grip, and Yazoo and Loz both had their Velvet Nightmares out.

All of them had their gazes locked on Kairi's photo.

"Don't tell me... you're leading me on?"

The wooden ring was slipped under the informant's robe. "What if it's true?" he stated. "Any human who so much as _sees_ this place is sentenced to death. And any monster, student or otherwise, who makes an ally out of them, is just as guilty. If one managed to pass off as a _student_..." A chuckle emerged from the shadows. "Well... Hope those things are sharp."

Kadaj closed his eyes, falling quiet for a moment. Then he whirled _Souba_ to a backhand grip and drove it into its sheath. "How do we act on this?"

"When I pieced it together, I asked Professor Heartilly about it. 'How does one react if a human is found on school grounds?' And she told me, she said that the only thing we need fear from a human..."

The swordsman's eyes lit up, pulsing as the informant stepped forward.

"...is how far their blood will fly."

+x+x+x+

"That went poorly."

Riku's observation spoke for everyone. The sun was setting on Yokai Academy, and everyone in the club room - including Roxas and Xion - was still recovering from the onslaught Larxene had put them through. Everyone had cuts an inch deep, or bruises from running into the ground. A lot of them had both.

Roxas sighed. Arriving late to the party meant he was the only one who hadn't been injured, but it was close. "Larxene is the worst opponent you could face," he muttered. "She's a sadist. Hardcore. Once or twice she'll do something for a reward, but she still marvels when she sees wounds across someone's skin."

"Kinda figured," Kairi murmured. Then she winced, a gasp of pain escaping her lips. "Not so hard, Naminé," she prompted.

Naminé pulled away briefly. "Sorry," she murmured. She went back to rubbing witch's balm into Kairi's back - where the most wounds were concentrated. The impact with the Monster Tree had driven a lot of cuts across Kairi's back, and that wasn't even starting with the amount strikes Larxene had landed proper.

Sora was quiet for a moment. "I just want to know _why_ she attacked us in the first place," he muttered. "Even if it's for a reward._.. who _would be sending her after us? And _why_?"

"Are you really that naive?"

Everyone spun to see the door hit the wall. Standing there was Kadaj Jenova, hand hooked on the twin-bladed katana at his hip. Behind him was Larxene Kaminari, who had her pseudo-knives braced in her claw position. The sight of them was enough to send everyone rising, drawing their weapons - even Naminé flipped open her sketchbook and touched her pencil to the paper.

Sora stepped forward. "What do you want, Kadaj?" he demanded. "If you're here because you've been training, I reccomend you-"

Kadaj raised his right hand. "Out of the way."

The second his hand connected with Sora's torso, the vampire was sent flying. He collided with the work table, crashed into a backflip, and skidded with his face on the floor before slamming into the wall.

The swordsman smirked, bringing his hand back. "I'm not here for any of _you_ punks," he stated defiantly. "Chikai, you're coming with me."

His voice didn't sound like Kairi remembered it - a seeker's voice was swift and almost joking. This was dark and meancing, like someone who was set on a mission and had no qualms about who ate lead on his way. Riku stepped before her, raising his blade preparedly. "Not sure what kind of taser _you're_ packing," he admitted, "but you can forget it. Kairi's _done_ nothing and _will_ do nothing that deserves her being taken away by-"

He didn't get the chance to throw that last insult - because at that moment, Kadaj gave a hearty laugh that cut him quiet. "So she's concealed herself _that_ well?" he prompted. "You don't know what _under_ that sweet face of hers?"

Riku raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?" he snapped back.

Kadaj's eyes pulsated.

"Kairi Chikai stands accused... of being a _human_."

Everything in the room went still at that. Kairi's eyes went wide, and a chill a thousand times colder than anything Xion could throw went down her spine.

Kadaj drew his blade as he stepped towards Kairi. "Well?" he prompted. "What have you been doing here? Gathering intel? Tracking weaknesses?" He raised his blade to Kairi's neck. "Or are you just waiting for the right moment to call in the cavalry?"

Riku shook his head. "Shut your mouth," he snapped. "That all a load of Minotaur shit. Right Kairi?"

No response.

He turned towards her. "...Kairi?"

Kairi wasn't moving. Her breath was faint, and her eyes were wide and locked on Kadaj's blade.

Kadaj only smirked. "Kaminari, grab her! Don't wanna make a mess in _here_."

Larxene grabbed Kairi from behind, her knives cutting into Kairi's shoulder as she pulled her out of her seat. Kadaj smirked as the sadist dragged Kairi out of the room and turned to the others for only a moment more.

"I'll be back for the rest of you later."

Kairi didn't react, her body unable to do anything but follow Kadaj out of the room and out of the school. Her mind could only focus on one question.

_How did he find out?_

+x+x+x+

"Sora. Wake up."

The vampire opened his eyes. He was sitting upright at one of the desks of their work setup. "Huh...? What happened?" He winced, reaching for his shoulder. "Did I fall asleep?"

Riku cuffed him in the back of the head. The others were already in front of him. "You passed out when Kadaj hit you with that taser trick of his," he replied. "More or less."

The whole event came rushing back to Sora - the confrontation, the exposure - and he surged to his feet unwarningly. "Kairi! Where'd they take Kairi?"

Everyone in the news club looked displeased about that question. Riku in particular only scoffed. "After that, it hardly matters."

Sora smacked him. Across the face.

Naminé's mouth dropped open.

Riku did not take kindly to the slap. He punched Sora in the arm. A second passed; then Riku winced and gripped his hand. "Ow," he muttered. "That hurt."

"Shut up," Sora snapped. "Where did Kadaj take Kairi?"

"It _doesn't matter_," Riku stated harshly. "Did you hear what he said? Kairi's-"

Sora cut him off by raising his index finger. "Riku Kurai, you're going to answer my question before I hurl you and your fur through the window _seperately_."

Xion shuddered.

Riku glared at him for a moment before giving a huff. "I don't know why I even bother."

"I don't have time to waste bickering with you," Sora stated, turning away. He turned and took off.

The werewolf watched his back until it vanished around the door.

Then he sighed, turning to the window.

"He has a point," Naminé stated, turning to Riku.

"Stow it," Riku stated. "I'm not throwing myself in this fire."

"Why not?" Naminé demanded.

Riku rolled his eyes, not turning around. "Naminé, Kairi's a _human. _Natural enemy to monsters. Yokai Academy was created for a _reason_. If the human world finds out about us, we _can_ and _will_ be hunted down."

Naminé shook her head. "Riku, you can't really believe that. Kairi's been _fighting_ for us. She's thrown herself in harm's way _for us_."

"Then what about her wounds?" Riku snapped. "Her bandages are on for months at a time. And her blood... damn it, this explains everything! Sora's been after Kairi because of her blood. Her _human_ blood. Why didn't I see it? Sora _knows _about this. I don't care what Kairi's done for us, I'm not getting mixed up in this..."

He trailed off. "Naminé?"

When he didn't get a response, he turned around to see he was alone.

"Oh, for the love of Feymarch..."

+x+x+x+

Kairi hardly reacted to anything as Larxene and Kadaj led her across the school grounds. The sun had set, and there was no one out - no one would react to her screams. It wasn't long before they arrived at an old, castle-esque structure of stone. Yazoo and Loz were both at the door - and each of them had a Velvet Nightmare in their hands - Yazoo in his left, Loz in his right.

Somehow, she managed to choke out a question. "What is this place?"

The knives from Larxene's hands raised cuts as the hand caught her shoulder, but Kadaj stopped her. "Relax, Kaminari," he insisted. "Can't drill out the little human girl for asking a question, can we?" He brushed Kairi's face. "This is the old Yokai dungeon," he mused, answering her question. "Top-security, underground layout, adamantite across the bars - it's got all the favourite setups." His voice started to lighten. "They used to bring monsters here - when they caused too much havoc, or if they killed someone in the human world..."

He spun and drew his twin-blade katana, shattering the old, rusted chains in front of the gate doors. His voice was dark again as he turned, his eyes pulsating. "Let's take a little tour, shall we?"

He stepped through the gates, and Larxene kicked Kairi in the back of the leg, causing her to start forward.

As she stepped inside, Kairi could have sworn she heard tortured shouts - roars and screeches of monsters as Kadaj led her past the cells. At one point they found themselves in a dead-end arrangement of seven cells - and in the one that formed the dead end was a huge skeleton.

Kairi gasped.

Kadaj chuckled. "Big bones, aren't they?" he mused. "Not big enough to be a troll, though. Slug monster, maybe?" He smirked. "Hey, you gotta see this." He sheathed his blade, causing Larxene to take a step back. Kairi followed suit. The Jenova swordsman raised his left hand so it crossed his chest, bent so that his hand crossed his forehead, and Kairi saw a light begin to shine, centered in his forearm. He swept his hand down, aiming at the bones, and a rifle pulse of white energy flew from his hand, impaling the skeleton in the forehead. Nothing happened for a beat; then the bones began to rattle, and for a horrifying moment Kairi saw them wrapped in flesh, forming a huge creature with the face and horns of a bull.

A hearty laugh emerged from Kadaj as he lowered his hand. "Oh, man, they had a _Minotaur_ in here!" he called.

A scream from Kairi sounded as Larxene drove her knives into the human girl's arm. "Enough playing around," Larxene snapped to Kadaj. "We're here for a reason."

Kadaj had a smirk on his face as a light hiss passed through his lips. "Alright, then," he mused, stepping up to Kairi. "Why don't you show us, Kairi? Unveil your real self. Show us what you really are." He smirked. "Easy, right? If you _really_ belong here as a student of Yokai Academy."_  
_

Kairi gasped as Larxene pulled her knives out of her arm. She fell to the floor, her breath heavy.

"Come on!" the sadist snapped. "Dropping a simple human guise isn't that hard! Are you afraid? Are you forgetful?"

A pair of blades embedded themselves in Kairi's hand, wrenching a scream that could curdle ichor as Kadaj dropped at her side.

His eyes pulsed menacingly. "Or are you _one of them__?_"

"Back off."

Kairi's eyes widened at the voice.

Larxene spun, and Kadaj raised his gaze to see a single figure standing there, cutting off the only way out.

In his hands was a Keyblade.

"Sora..."

+x+x+x+

"Kind of reckless, don't you think?"

Naminé came to a stop and spun to see Xion chasing after her. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I'm sorry to be the one to say this," Xion admitted, "but you're not that strong in a fight. Don't you think going in without help is going to be a bit of a problem?"

The which angled her hand from side to side. "Maybe so," Naminé admitted, "but my supply of allies was kind of limited. You can come along, but I can't count on Riku to do anything."

"Excuse me?"

Both of them turned to see Riku leaning on a gravestone. "Hey, I'm not the one barging in there like a fool. That's Larxene Kaminari and the Jenova brothers. If they've got a human trapped in there, it's _not_ my problem."

"That's it," Naminé muttered. "I'm sick of you acting all high-and-mighty just because you get a little blurry when dark out isn't a black sky. What, do you expect me to sit around here and wait for Kairi to get _killed_? I don't care how_ fast_ you move or how _shaggy_ you get - I am _not_ going to let her die in there."

"You want to go deal with Kadaj?" Riku prompted. "Go ahead. I'm not going to stop you."

Naminé gave a confronting nod. "Then we understand each other." She turned away.

Riku stopped her. "But answer me this," he added. "It all adds up. No matter how you look at it, Kairi _is_ human - and she's after your vampire to boot. Why would you go in there? Give me a reason."

The question caused Naminé to stop in her tracks. A small smile rose on her face as she turned to Riku.

"Because she's pure."

A jolt coursed across the werewolf at that.

"And that's something _none of us_ can claim."

Riku had no proper response. He watched as Naminé turned, dashing away - and Xion only glanced once at him before following suit.

+x+x+x+

Kadaj pulled his blade out of Kairi's hand, wrenching another scream from her as he and Larxene got to their feet. "Impressive," he admitted. "Didn't think you'd be able to get in here for your little _human_ until I heard a gunshot.

Sora whirled his Keyblade in hand, arcing into a spin before dashing forward with a straight-arm thrust. Larxene saw it coming and tried to sidestep, but Sora managed to catch her in the side before lashing out with a quick three-hit combo that knocked her into one of the cells. Kadaj dashed forward, but Sora caught the backhand strike on his Key and whirled around before driving the teeth into Kadaj's side, crashing him into the bars of another as he tumbled away from the confrontation zone.

He stepped towards Kairi as the human girl rolled over to face him. "Can you stand?" he asked. "Come on. Let's go."

Energy behind him caused him to spin, raising his Keyblade as Kadaj reached forward. He caught the open-palm blow on the shaft of the Key, causing it to fly out of his hand. Sora glanced at his hand for a moment before looking forward and kneeing Kadaj in the gut, following it up with a thrust-kick that sent him flying back. Kadaj's eyes blazed as he reached forward.

"Hold it."

Sora came to an abrupt stop. He knew that voice.

A tap of something on stone, matching footsteps like someone walking with a staff - and Kairi saw him looming out of the shadows menacingly. His garments had changed - such a bright robe, white and blazing red - and in his hands was a staff rather than a sword, but it was the same fighter; the same ice-on-pavement hair, alternating strands of black and white, and the same cold green eyes.

Slasher Kishi grinned. "Didn't we agree that they were _my_ kill?"

Sora growled. "You... _You_'re the one... who ratted us out!"

"Oh, please," Slasher taunted. "Don't blame me for what you were begging for in the first place. A human has no place at Yokai Academy. Our natural enemy - unwilling to change their beliefs. Any monster who would side with a human..."

He raised his staff, a glow emerging from around him.

"...deserves death!"

Sora braced himself to guard.

And twin blades ran themselves through Slasher's arm, causing the warrior to shout.

Kadaj was standing there, with his blade outstretched. How he managed to have the handle in his left hand and the blade in Slasher's right arm and no one having noticed before was beyond Sora. The Jenova warrior picked him up simply by lifting the blade above eye level, causing the staff to fall to the ground as he hurled Slasher across the floor.

"Hands off, brat," Kadaj growled. "I said it already - if you got a problem with Chikai, _get in line_." He turned to Sora again, whirling his weapon in hand before impaling it in the staff, splicing it in two.

Sora braced his Key back, only to arc into a spin and hurl it forward, whirling towards Kadaj as the swordsman braced to guard in the wrong direction. The teeth of the Key drove into his weapon hand, causing him to drop his twin katana; as he braced himself to go hand to hand, it arced towards him again and hit him in the back.

A shifting behind Sora caused him to turn to see Kairi struggling to stand. No, not even to stand - to so much as keep her face off the ground. Kadaj saw this and growled, his eyes pulsating like a heartbeat.

"You're still fighting, eh, Chikai?" the sadist mused. "Didn't think you had it in you."

Kairi grit her teeth. "If you're going to kill me," she snapped, "kill me. But leave. Sora. Alone."

Kadaj smirked. "He's the one who barreled himself into this," he countered. "If he's willing to step back..."

"Then that's two obstacles instead of three."

Everyone turned to see Naminé and Xion standing there. Naminé already had her pencil on her paper; and Xion's right hand was wrapped in claws of ice.

+x+x+x+

_Two minutes earlier_

Yazoo and Loz saw the two girls coming from a mile away. The snowgirl looked like such a contrast next to Kioku - hair, clothes - yet side by side, you would think they were sisters. The Jenova brothers exchanged glances and smirked - this was going to be too easy.

As the girls came close, Loz raised his Velvet Nightmare and fired.

It passed right between them.

Neither of them slowed down.

Yazoo glared at the brute and raised his own Velvet Nightmare, the barrel connecting with Kioku's face. Loz embarassedly did the same with the snowgirl.

Both of them fired.

A _shattering_ sound emerged from the two girls as they started sliding backwards, causing Yazoo to lower his weapon. Loz braced his left arm before him, pulling a catch on his Dual Hound as the handle rolled into his hand. The girls slid to a stop about a ten meters away and turned towards them.

The right half of Naminé's face was missing.

So was the left half of Xion's.

Both of them started forward. Yazoo acted instantly; he and Loz raised their Velvet Nightmares and went into rapid fire mode. The girls didn't even try to dodge; most of the shots impacted upon them, the bullets tearing jagged fragments off of their figures until they were close enough for Yazoo to step forward and kiss one of them - except that their faces were demolished.

The gunslinger panicked; he lashed out with the blade edge of his Velvet Nightmare - an act that should have torn open Naminé's arm, cut into her side. But Naminé's hand only swept out, catching the weapon in the crook between her thumb and her palm.

Ice began to race up that arm, starting at the shoulder and coursing over the limb until it was a single, wicked blade; and Naminé arced it around to slice Yazoo in half.

There was a blur of blue; then Kioku's figure shattered into a flurry of ice fragments. Loz was standing at Yazoo's right, staring in horror at where Xion and Naminé had just been.

The ice fragments proceeded to needle themselves into Loz's right arm, causing him to give a howl of pain as his Velvet Nightmare fell to the ground.

Yazoo's gaze shot up, his eyes wide, and he raised his own Velvet Nightmare, aiming left and right before seeing Naminé leaning against a solitary tree nearby. She was sketching, and Xion was watching them intently, one of her hands wrapped in icy claws.

"What else have you got in your bag of tricks?" Naminé asked as she swept her pencil off the page, causing the ice to melt.

"That was nothing," Xion countered. "Watch this." She raised her clawed hand, and bolts of icy fire began to tear from her palm, flying towards the Jenova brothers. Loz raised his pile bunker to try and nullify the flames, but the ice quick-froze across his body - he started running, but by then there was enough frost upon his figure for Xion to quickly wrap him in solid ice. Yazoo was panicking.

Naminé raised an eyebrow, closing her sketchbook as she and Xion started towards the door. "That's all?" she asked.

"Not that," Xion defended as Yazoo raised his Velvet Nightmare. "_This_."

Yazoo reached to pull the trigger... and a solid fist of ice slugged him in the face.

+x+x+x+

A low growl passed through Kadaj's teeth as he smirked. "So," he mused. "We've got a witch. We've got a snow fairy. We've got a vampire. And you're all willing to protect Chikai. Is that right?"

"Um, yeah, about that?"

Everyone turned to see a familiar figure standing in the doorway with a dragon's wing slung over his shoulder. "You're one short."

Naminé's eyes widened. "_You?!_" she exclaimed. "But you said..."

"I know what I said," Riku snapped back. "You think just because I move fast and flirt a little bit means I can't change my mind?" A smirk rose on his face as he turned to Kadaj. "And guess what the moon looks like out there."

Naminé and Xion exchanged glances and stepped back as Riku levelled Soul Eater next to his eyes.

Kadaj's face was blazing as he whirled his twin katana to a forehand grip. "You _fools!_" he shouted. "You make a friend out of a _human!_ You don't even_ try_ to deny her identity! And you _shield_ her! Our school's happy flock... and you protect the _black sheep!_"

Riku's glare intensified as his form began to shift. Fur coursed across his skin, and his shoes burst as his feet transformed into feral paws. Claws tore from his fingers, menacing bloodred as his face began to elongate.

"I'm not protecting _you_."

He shot forward, his blade surging down menacingly. Kadaj acted seven seconds ahead and finished three, raising his blade so that Riku's strike slid between the katanas - and when it connected with the hilt, he flexed his wrist to twist it, trying to pull Soul Eater out of the werewolf's hands.

Then his claws hooked themselves in Kadaj's chest.

The dragon wingblade _ripped through_ the hilt of Kadaj's weapon, digging into his hand as Riku arced into a spin, pulling Kadaj out of the air before hurling him towards the wall that was sitting behind Sora and Kairi. The brick barrier _shattered_, causing him to tumble into a wide-open area that looked like it was designed for a brawl. Actually, _tumble_ isn't the right word; the Jenova swordsman _kept going,_ colliding with a pile of rubble on the other side of the room.

Two katanas fell to the ground at Riku's side as he propped his wingblade on his shoulder again.

"Next time, behave."

Everyone was gaping at him incredulously as a black mist volted from his hand, his fingers parting as Soul Eater vanished from it.

Sora smiled, turning to Kairi, who was still struggling to rise. "You see this?" he whispered. "You see what they're doing? They _know_ you're human, Kairi. But they came to help you."

Kairi closed her eyes, a smile rising on her own face.

At the edge of the arena, Slasher was watching the events, unnoticed in the shadows. _Well played, Chikai,_ he mused. _But enough blabbity blab._

Darkness flared on the other side of the wall, and everyone spun as Kadaj got to his feet.

_Now, let's get to the main act!_

* * *

Draco: You see that cliff? That's me hanging you off it. Hope you all enjoy!


	10. Ne Me Mori Facias

Draco: _YES_. I just named this chapter, in Latin, after the lyrics of _One-Winged Angel_. The line translates to _Do not let me die_. You can begin having nightmares. Oh, for maximum epicality, play J-E-N-O-V-A (Advent Children Version) while you read this chapter! That's the track that played during the Cloud V Kadaj scene, for those who don't know.

Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 10: Ne Me Mori Facias**

Going through a wall? Impressive.

Getting _thrown_ through a wall? Scary.

Getting _back on your feet_ afterwards? Mulch just got some sort of _real_.

Kadaj Jenova was _blazing_, his entire body storming with a dark power that no one recognized. Sora and Xion called their Keyblades to hand, and dark mist volted from Riku's palm as he closed his fingers around Soul Eater. Naminé's pencil started racing across the paper, but whatever she was going to do, no one could know. Kairi tried to rise, but Sora only set a hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright," he insisted. "Don't push yourself."

He stepped forward, the others following behind him, leaving Kairi watching incredulously.

Darkness had started sparking around Kadaj like lightning, racing bolts across his flesh. "You little _freaks!_" he roared. "I will _not_ let you make a fool out of _me! _I _WON'T!_"

A flare of energy emerged from his right shoulder, taking a horribly familiar form - a jet-black angel wing, draped over his side like a cape.

"Kairi Chikai... _human!_ Why!? _Why_ do you _continue_ to _defend_ her?!"

Riku smirked. "She never said any such thing," he snapped. "That's a rule. Right, Sora?" He glanced at the vampire. "Never show your true face, even to your fellow classmates. Isn't that the first thing Leon told you when the school year started?"

Kadaj gave a shout like a tortured child and shot forward, swinging his bare hands like swords. Sora sidestepped one blow, ducked under another, and swung his Key towards a third. The flaring impact allowed him to whirl into a spin, lashing out at Kadaj's wing - but the Jenova swordsman only grabbed it, and Sora released the weapon, fading it from Kadaj's hands only to reform it in his.

Xion lashed out with her own Keyblade, her weapon becoming a blur in her hand as she lashed out with a rushing combo. Kadaj sidestepped each blow, letting Xion force him back until he leapt over her, flaring his palm towards her forehead. Xion ducked under the reach, lashing out at him; but he only flared his wing, dropping before her and thrusting a knifehand strike towards her.

Riku coming up behind him caused him to cut it into a spin, lashing out at him. Riku ducked under the blow and started swinging, and though Kadaj caught his blows upon his hands, Riku moved too fast - the pulse from Kadaj's touch would emit against the air when Riku was on the other side of the swordsman. Unfortunately, Kadaj saw the pattern in Riku's strikes and lashed out at the opening, his hand connecting with Riku's chest.

Somehow, the werewolf even managed to avoid _that_; he was on the other side of Kadaj when the pulse hit his chest, which sent him flying _right_ into Kadaj's back and send him tumbling forwards, leaving him open. However, Riku didn't count on _that_ connection pulsing as well, sending him hurdling forward as Sora used the opening to strike out at Kadaj. His Keyblade went flying, impaling a wall as Xion leapt away and hurled several shots of icy fire at the swordsman.

Kadaj blocked those with his wing._  
_

Yes. A swordsman _shielded_ himself from _flames_ that _froze_ with a group of _black feathers_.

At that moment, a spider's web pinned his right arm to his wing, causing him to pause as he glanced at it - and spider's webs began to form all across his body, tying him to himself. He raised his gaze to see Naminé scribbling fiercely in her sketchbook. He managed to pull his left arm out of the web, and a light pulsed across his left arm as he gave a murderous shout.

He raised his hand at Naminé; and a flare of deadly power flew from his hand, searing towards her. Naminé raised her gaze and screamed as the pulse neared her eyes...

"Get down!"

A blurred figure shoved her out of the way, and everyone turned to see Riku raise his blade to take the blow. The impact ripped an _explosion_ around him, tearing a tortured shout from the werewolf as a burning flame enveloped him.

Riku Kurai hit the ground, his body weak.

Kadaj only laughed, his calls echoing all across the chamber as he tore himself out of the webs. His wing flared out as dark lighting sparked across his body. "All that speed... and you're willing to take the blow!" he shouted. "You throw that witch out of the way, and you're willing to _protect_ your little human!"

Kairi was watching helplessly from the other side of the broken wall. If Riku hadn't taken that blow, the shot would have passed right through the air and killed her. _They're getting hurt because of me,_ she realized. _Because I'm human. He's taking them down because of _me_!__  
_

Riku managed to turn his head towards Kairi. "Hey, don't look like that."

She raised her gaze as a weak smile rose on the werewolf's face. "We're gonna get out of this. All of us. Trust me." He closed his eyes and struggled to get to his feet.

Sora and Xion were still in battle with Kadaj, but the one-wing had just made it six times harder with or without Riku. He caught blow after blow on his palms, sending their weapons flying with the energy pulses he launched with every touch, and even as they used that to arcing into momentous blows that neither of them could pull off on their own, he only blocked those as well - at some points he even evaded, causing the two of them to clash blades once, twice, three times before Kadaj would lash out with open-palm blows - and their evasion was maybe a few millimeters from Kadaj's skin before they leapt away.

The fourth time was the inevitable mistake. Xion lashed out with her claws, catching Sora's Key before she lashed out with her own towards Kadaj. The one-wing was already gone - her strike landed on Sora's leg, and she raised her gaze to see the Jenova swordsman drop down with a knifehand blow and sent her flying into the wall. Sora scrambled to his feet, but Kadaj only lashed out against his chest, sending him flying as well.

Riku got to his feet.

Xion got to hers.

Sora rose on a hand, a knee and a foot with his Key in the ground for support.

Kadaj grinned, glancing between his three opponents. "Come on!" he called. "Let me see what you can all do!"

All three of them shot forward, weapons in hand. Riku arrived first, managing to slide a downswipe, a horizontal swing, and an uppercut in the time it took him to pass Kadaj. Xion lashed out with a spinning blow from Key and claw alike, sending icy fire blazing across Kadaj. Sora struck out with an earthward blow that sent light flaring around Kadaj.

Then all three of his assailants fell to the ground, pulses racing across their bodies.

Kadaj laughed menacingly, raising his hands before him. His left arm began to shine again, and he arced it above him before slamming it into the ground, causing a menacing shockwave to spear across the earth. Riku was thrown into a pile rubble; Xion was driven into the earth. Sora arced into the air as Kadaj reached skyward and grabbed him by the neck, sending pulses of energy tearing across the vampire's flesh before Kadaj hurled him into the ground, ripping a three-metre scar in the earth.

"Watch, Chikai!"

Kadaj's left arm was shining like a sun as he raised it to the heavens

"Your friends came to save you..."

He levelled his palm on the fallen Sora.

"Now watch them _die_!"

There was a grating of steel on stone.

"...alone..."

Everyone paused at that, and all three of the combatants turned to Kairi.

The human girl was on her feet. In each hand was a sword - the two halves of Kadaj's twin katana. One step. Two steps. Three. Five. It was a weak stumble at first, but Kairi was accelerating into a full-throttle dash as Kadaj raised his gaze.

"Leave... my friends... _alone!_"

She arced her arms back as she rushed towards Kadaj, swinging the blade in her left into a horizontal blow and the one in her right into a menacing uppercut that tore across her leg on its way to Kadaj.

He caught in his right hand the blade in her left.

He caught in his left hand the blade in her right.

And Kairi gave a tortured scream as he sent a necrous voltage through the blades, screaming lightning screaming through her nervous system.

Kadaj's face was a menacing grin as he pulled the katanas from her hands, causing her to fly back, falling over Sora. "Never thought I'd see a human so frail perform such an act of valor," he admitted, whirling the weapons in hand. "Never thought I'd see a girl so _weak_... be such a _fool!_"

He slammed his palms together, causing a flare to emerge between them as the katanas became one, the twin shaft of _Souba_ blading from his right hand as he pulled it away from his left.

"_Now_ _**shut your mouth** and **watch!**_"

His left hand was raised towards Sora, and four spears of cobalt energy flew from his palm, arcing towards the fallen Sora. He raised his Keyblade to defend himself...

Only for a pull on his chain to fade it from his hands as a familiar figure leapt in front of the blast.

"_I won't let you!_"

The shots struck Kairi from every angle, and a pure energy explosion ripped out from each impact point, tearing a bloodcurdling scream that pierced the eardrums of everyone present. Sora, Naminé, Riku, Xion, even Kadaj could only watch as Kairi fell to the ground, her body scarred with energy burns, deep thick cuts in her arms and sides where the spears had connected.

There was half a moment of silence.

Then Sora screamed.

"_KAIRIIIII!_"

Pure, monstrous energy ripped through the air around him, causing Kadaj to pull away. He whirled _Souba_ to his left hand, bracing it in a backhand grip as he watched Sora rise. His skin paled; his hair turned menacing jet-black before a crimson flare rose upon it, forming a sunset darkness upon his helm. His fingernails sharpened into claws, individual pin tumbler keys of which no two were the same - and he crossed his arms over his chest before giving a menacing battle cry with his gaze to the sky.

Sora lowered his gaze, his eyes blazing a deadly blood red.

Kadaj pulled back, bracing his blade before him. Sora hardly paid him more than a glance before kneeling down to pick up Kairi as Naminé, Riku, and Xion raced towards him.

The vampire grit his fangs. "You're not dying on me now, snack tray," he gasped. "You're _not!_"

Riku glanced at her, horrified. "She's not breathing..."

Naminé set her hand on Kairi's neck. "There's no pulse... Sora, _there's no pulse!_"_  
_

Sora gasped. "I'm not gonna make this easy on you."

He pulled her neck close before sinking his fangs into Kairi's neck.

Xion's eyes widened. "Sora... _What are you-_?"

Then Sora pulled himself away - and the snowgirl saw his teeth were flat as Kairi started to stir.

"Naminé, take her!"

He handed Kairi to the witch, who stumbled back, dropping to a kneel as he stepped forward.

Riku watched incredulously. "What were you..."

"I didn't drink her blood," Sora reprimanded. He saw Soul Eater in the werewolf's hand and grabbed it by the blade, pulling it out of his grasp with no resistance. "But given that she's in no condition to drink _mine_... I had to pump it in directly."

Naminé glanced at Kairi. She was breathing, if only ever-so-faintly, and she had a horrifyingly slow pulse - but it was still there. "That... that just might... work..."

Sora closed his eyes. "But there's no guarantee."

He flipped the dragon wingblade into the air, letting his fingers close around the handle as he raised his gaze to Kadaj.

"You have ten seconds to pray to Bahamut."

He arced the blade straight to his side, and everyone gasped as the flame-red faded from his hair, leaving only the black of night.

"Then I'm gonna _tear your wing out_ and _use it as a cloak!_"

He shot forward, Soul Eater gleaming in his hand as he lashed out with a menacing flurry of strikes. Kadaj caught the blows on _Souba_ and returned with his own, but Sora only arced around them and lashed out with a roundhouse kick to the back of Kadaj's head. The one-winged swordsman spun around, but Sora was already swinging his blade into Kadaj's side, causing the Jenova brother to leap away as Sora charged after him.

Riku gaped. "Woah," he gasped. "I never thought... the clawed Sora with a blade..."

Xion shook her head. "No..."

"What do you mean?" Riku asked.

"This _isn't_ his full power," Xion gasped. "He should be sending Kadaj flying when he _misses_ - he should have _cleaved_ that swordsman in two." She winced. "I knew this was going to happen, but..."

Kadaj lashed out with a kick that sent Sora skidding back; then he shot forward, his feet off the ground, and lashed out with his right hand. Sora rolled under the strike, cutting at Kadaj's legs, but Kadaj only spun and hurled a burst of energy at the vampire, causing Sora to leap into the air.

"Come on, Kingdom!" he shouted. "What happened to that_ power_ you're so proud of! You've let yourself go..." He raised his blade before him, and his left arm began to shine. "And _I'm _not that _weakling_ you took down at the start of the year!"

He shot forward and lashed out with his blade going for Sora's face and his hand going for Sora's heart. Sora caught the cut against Soul Eater so that his elbow would catch the blow, but Kadaj only grabbed him by the arm and hurled him towards the wall. Sora angled his blow so that his feet connected with the wall, his empty hand landing on the surface before he lashed forward, blade flat before him; but Kadaj only sidestepped it, causing Sora to roll across the ground before skidding to a stop.

"Sora, what's wrong with you?!" Naminé shouted.

"Why do you think I grabbed this thing?" Sora snapped, whirling Soul Eater in hand before hurling it at Kadaj. "I needed to compensate for the power loss!"_  
_

Kadaj beat the blade to the ground as Sora shot towards him, lashing out with a flurry of claws and kicks before sweeping Soul Eater off the ground and jabbing it towards Kadaj. The Jenova swordsman only caught it between the blades of _Souba,_ careful to make sure the hilt was facing the back of the dragon's wing, before whirling it in hand and pulling the wingblade out of Sora's hand, sending it flying into the air.

_Souba_ was whirled into his right hand as he lashed out with his left, sending a pulse across Sora that knocked him across the ground. He managed to slow himself to a stop, charing towards Kadaj again; but the one-wing only dropped low, arcing into a flip-kick that drove Sora into the ground.

"All you've done is lose this battle for good, Kingdom," he snapped. His arm began to light up again, sending a menacing glow across his features. "You _could_ have defeated me, if you were _lucky_ - but _no_! You gave up - you tried to _protect_ your little human!"

He raised his arm towards Sora again.

"_And now, you're going to die for it!_"

Sora raised his gaze, knowing Kadaj was going to end him.

And a flare of monstrous energy erupted from behind the swordsman, causing him to spin.

Everyone gave a shout of horror. Kairi was on her feet - s_he was standing of her own volition_. The wounds across her body - energy burns, the cuts in her skin where Kadaj's spear attack had connected, even what was left of the wounds she had accumulated since the start of the school year - everything was _vanishing_. And monstrous energy was flaring around her - the same deadly strength that always erupted around Sora when she pulled of his crown.

Kadaj was panicking. "No... you... you're not human... You _can't_ be human! No human could recover from _that! _Kishi played me for a _fool!_"

A hand on his wing caught him by surprise, and Sora grabbed Kadaj around the neck, choking him._  
_

"Oh, yes, there's one thing I forgot to mention," he growled. "If the blood takes hold..."

Kairi's hair darkened, the beautiful crimson turning the colour of hot obsidian.

"Even _I_ don't know what it'll do to her!"

He drove his knee into Kadaj's back, causing the swordman to give a shout of pain. Souba clattered out of his hand, but Kadaj hardly noticed - the pain Sora was driving through him was too much.

"Kairi..."

The girl raised her gaze to Sora.

"_RUN!_"

Kairi flared her hands back and shot forward, causing Kadaj to grab at Sora's hand around his neck. "No... _NO!_ Let me _go!_"

He pried Sora's hand from his neck.

And Kairi's roundhouse kick connected with Kadaj's chest, sending him flying.

Another wall _shattered_ as Kadaj flew through it.

Kairi glared at where Kadaj had just been... then she stumbled in place, as though hit with a sudden stench, and started to fall forward.

Naminé panicked, rushing towards them. "Kairi!"

Sora stepped forward, catching Kairi against his arm. "It's alright," he insisted. "The vampire blood must have worn off. She'll be fine." She turned towards the first hole in the wall - but Slasher seemed to have disappeared.

"So, Riku," he called, causing the werewolf to look towards him. "You still got any questions about whether Kairi belongs here?"

Riku gave a nervous cough and turned away. "Well... I mean... I guess.."

He stopped and spun to face Sora. "Wait, how did you-?!"

+x+x+x+

When the dust had settled, Riku, Xion, and Naminé stepped out of the prison through the door they had come in. A couple seconds later, Sora stepped out; Kairi sleeping in his arms, his rosario around his neck, and half-sleeping for himself.

Loz and Yazoo had vanished from the entrance; however, unbeknownst to them, someone else watching them as they made their way back towards the school. Slasher Kishi had hidden himself in a higher floor - and now, he was watching through a window in one of the cells as the five combatants stepped away.

"Very well done, Kairi Chikai. The guise of a monster - and a vampire no less!"

He ran his hand down the shaft of his repaired staff. "I admit defeat this time. But you'd better be ready.

"Sooner or later... I _will_ face you myself."

* * *

Draco: I know. You were all expecting Roxas to show up and fireball Kadaj in the face. But no. He can do that to someone else. And no, this isn't the last you'll see of Kadj Jenova. Not by a _long_ shot.

Sorry this chapter was shorter than usual (didn't quite hit 4000 words). The critical scene didn't last as long as I thought it did. Hope you all enjoy!


	11. Purity Darkened

Draco: {drums fingers on edge of keyboard}... I got nothin'. Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 11: Purity Darkened**

_"Your friends came to save you... Now watch them **die**!"_

_A demonic angel with one wing in the fire; a dark power she had never seen before._

_Desperately taking up the blades of an enemy; a helpless plea, knowing she didn't stand a chance._

_"Leave my friends **alone!**"_

_Blades caught with only bare hands, and hell that she knew was coming._

_"Fine..."_

_And lightning._

_Lightning dark as the night beyond the stone as he shouted, his eyes pulsing like a black heart._

_"Then **they** can watch **you!**__"_

+x+x+x+

"_NOOOO!_"

Kairi shot upright, her gaze wide, her breath heavy. The room was dark, and her body felt stiff... and sore... and her neck felt strangely... cold...

"Kairi?"

The human girl turned to see Sora standing there with a worried look on his face. He was leaning on a desk with a lamp - which, Kairi realized, was her workdesk in _her_ dorm room.

"Are you alright?" Sora asked. "You were shouting in your sleep. You look kind of... pale."

Kairi winced. "Sora...?" A sigh passed through her lips. "I'm fine," she muttered. "I'm just... I feel kind of... weak." She paused. "Kadaj... we took down Kadaj, right?"

Sora smiled. "Yeah. We did." He coughed nervously. "Um, you, uh... are you hungry? You've been out for a couple days."

"I'm not-" Kairi was interrupted by a churning roar from her stomach. "I take it back," she muttered. "I could eat spicy angel wings."

A chuckle emerged from Sora. "Sorry," he chuckled. "Xion's fire freezes." He turned back to the desk and pulled out a small wrapped dish. "Perhaps you'll be satisfied... with this?"

Kairi accepted the dish from him to see a three-piece meal - rice, fish, and what looked like chicken tsukune. "This is... Did you make this?" she asked, raising her gaze to Sora.

Even in the dark, Kairi could tell Sora had a heavy blush on his face. "Um... yeah... kinda."

A smile rose on Kairi's face. "Thanks," she said honestly, unwrapping the dish.

+x+x+x+

"So... how did you guys finish things with Kadaj?"

Sora nearly pulled a spit-take with his tomato juice from Kairi's question. "Wha- you don't remember?" he asked.

Kairi shook her head, setting the chicken tsukune down. "I just remember... Riku got sent flying. You and Xion were trying to deal with Kadaj, and..." She sighed. "Then it just goes dark."

The vampire started to raise his drink again, then stopped. "You don't remember... _anything_?"

"Nothing," Kairi replied, raising her gaze. "Why? Did something happen?"

Sora opened his mouth to speak, to explain that yes, something _did_ happen, and she deserved to know; but he couldn't bring himself to say so, and he only lowered his drink.

"No..."

A horrifying image became vivid in his mind - of Kairi with hair like obsidian, and eyes like seas of blood.

"...No, nothing happened."

Kairi was suspicious, but simply went back to finishing her chicken tsukune.

+x+x+x+

To Kairi's credit, she had managed to wake up on the weekend. Not having to rush back to class after having _just_ woken up was a relief to her, and to everyone else.

The first one of their group she ran into was Naminé. She was sketching at an outdoor table when Kairi caught sight of her, calling to her as she raised her gaze.

"Kairi!" she exclaimed, surprised. "You're up!" She glanced at her work and quickly turned the page as Kairi sat down across from her.

"Yeah, I am," she assured the witch. "A little stiff, but it's nothing worth worrying about." She glanced at Naminé's sketchbook. "How's the art coming along?"

"Pretty good," Naminé replied quietly.

Kairi raised an eyebrow. "Those armoured shots coming along well?"

Naminé angled her empty hand from side to side.

"Alright." She yawned, stretching her arms. "Mind if I take a look?"

"Um..." Naminé looked kind of nervous about that.

Kairi didn't push it. "Never mind," she replied. "Forget I asked." She got to her feet. "I'm gonna go find Riku. Sora, you coming?"

"I'll catch up," Sora insisted. Kairi nodded and took off.

Naminé glanced in Kairi's direction. "What's up with her?" she asked. "She's acting pretty... normal."

Sora bit his lower lip. "About that..."

He kept his voice low, but Naminé nearly gave a shout of horror. She managed to keep herself quiet, though. "_Nothing?_"

"Nothing," Sora insisted. "Please, until I have a good chance... keep quiet about it, alright?"

Naminé nodded. "Yeah, no problem." Sora got to his feet and took off after Kairi.

The witch turned back a page in her sketchbook, revealing a beautifully detailed image - of Kairi against a flare of darkness, with fingernails like claws and hair like a dark ocean.

+x+x+x+

"Hey, Riku!"

The werewolf, who was working a punching bag, spun to see Kairi walking towards him, with Sora behind her. "Hey there, Kai-" He cut himself off with a grunt as the bag hit him in the back. Kairi gave a light chuckle as she and Sora approached it. Sora set his hand on the bag as Riku got to his feet, brushing himself off nonchalantly. "How you feeling?" he asked. "I was kinda worried."

"No problem," Kairi replied, glancing around. "There a spare pair of gloves around here?"

Riku raised an eyebrow. "What about your blades?" he asked. "I haven't seen you with those since Larxene ran into us at the Monster Tree." Under his breath, he muttered, "Not that I suppose you need them..."

Kairi turned to him. "Sorry?" she asked.

Sora had an stern look on his face as Riku raised his gaze. "Not important," he insisted hastily. "Here, take mine." He pulled his gloves off and handed them to Kairi, who put them on, slightly confused, and started beating on the bag.

Riku watched with a concerned look on his face, recognizing everything about how Kairi was fighting, but Sora dragged him out of earshot and whispered a few details into his ear. Then covered Riku's mouth before the werewolf had time to shout. The vampire gave him a stern look, and Riku nodded in understanding as they started back towards Kairi, who was starting to wear out.

Out of nowhere, Kairi arced into a spin, driving a roundhouse kick into the bag. The exercise tool swung slightly as Kairi stumbled back, gripping her leg - the attack hadn't connected where she was expecting. If she was expecting anything. She wasn't even sure where that had come from.

Riku stepped towards her. "Don't just start throwing kicks out of nowhere again," he stated. "You seem kind of worn down."

Kairi turned to face Riku, a suspicious look on her face. "What do you mean 'again'?"

"That... time you fought Yazoo," Riku replied hesitantly. "Remember, you swung off the rafters and kind of drill-booted him? It didn't end as well as it could have for you."

There was something suspicious about the way he said that. He wasn't technically wrong however, so Kairi decided not to push it - for now. "Alright," Kairi murmured, pulling the gloves off and handing them to Riku. "I need a drink. See you guys."

Sora nodded. "Yeah," he murmured. "See ya." Kairi stepped out, and Sora sighed, setting a hand on his forehead before following suit.

"Hey, Sora."

Riku's call caused him to pause, turning to face him.

"You can't hide it from her forever, you know?" he called.

Sora sighed. "I know," he admitted. "I just... I don't want to just throw it on her."

He turned away, stepping out as Riku turned back to the punching bag, trying to push out the image of Kairi with the face of a vampire.

+x+x+x+

A water bottle fell out of the dispenser as Kairi grabbed it, taking a long drink from it. "They're hiding something," she murmured to herself as she lowered the bottle. "I don't know _what_ they're hiding, but they're hiding _something_." She took another long drink, trying to focus on what had happened during the battle with Kadaj.

"You look pretty thirsty there."

Kairi lowered her bottle, looking around. The voice was female, and suspiciously familiar. "Huh? Who's there?" she called.

"Best watch your back..."

The human girl reached for her blades, only to be reminded that she hadn't recovered them since Larxene ambushed her at the Monster Tree. "Who are you?" Kairi demanded, her gaze shifting from left to right. "Show yourself!"

She pulled a full three-sixty - and that's whens something brushing against the back of her legs caused her to go still.

"For a fighter girl, you're don't pick up that much, do you?"

Kairi spun to face her opponent, who likewise spun to face her. It was a familiar armoured figure; except now her helmet was gone, revealing flowing hair - stark, shining white hair. Her gaze was a pair of dark eyes that were almost black, coursed into a glare, and her skin seemed... very smooth.

"You..." Kairi bit her lip for a moment. "Okay, I recognize you, but I don't think I know your name."

"Same to you," the armoured girl replied. "I am Niju Blade. If the rumors are correct, you... are Kairi Chikai?"

"Yes," Kairi replied. "Now I remember - you're the one who was attacking students recently, correct? You ran into Sora and Xion in that cave... thing."

Niju nodded. "Although I do not appreciate being ratted out for it, I must say you and the others in the news club did an _excellent_ job on the article."

Kairi proceeded to the point. "Why did you call me a 'fighter girl'? And... what rumors?" She paused. "Wait... you heard I used to be in the fight club?"

"Did you?" Niju seemed surprised. She shook her head, putting her glare back on. "That's not what I meant. I'm talking about Kadaj Jenova. The news club fought him and his allies in the abandoned dungeon building. You put him through a wall."

"_What?!_" Kairi was shocked. "No, _Riku Kurai_ put him through a wall. I was just... there."

There was a blur and a sound like colliding steel; then Niju raised her hand towards Kairi. Except it wasn't her hand - it was a sharp, smooth, double-edged blade that encased her hand and part of her forearm like it had been replaced. Kairi yelped, stepping back.

"Don't try to fool me," Niju snapped. "The whole _school_'s talking about it. Kadaj himself _flinches_ when he hears your name. Who else could it have been?"

Kairi shook her head. "No, you've made a mistake-!"

"No, she hasn't."

Both Niju and Kairi turned to see Xion standing there with claws over her right hand. "There's no mistake about it," the snowgirl stated. "Niju, step away."

Niju scoffed angrily. "You again," she muttered. "I'm not getting mixed up in this. Between the two of you, that vampire is gonna show up and I am _not_ crossing that thing." She stepped away, stopping to point at Kairi with the index finger of her uncovered hand.

"You. Meet me at the cliffs before sunset. _Don't_ keep me waiting."

+x+x+x+

"What the _hell_, Xion?!"

Kairi and the snowgirl had retired to the school roof. Kairi needed an empty space to talk. Xion just didn't want to argue with her. Once they had made sure the roof was empty, Xion had ice-blasted a pair of comfortable - if cold - chairs together and sat down on one of them, wordlessly inviting Kairi to do the same.

The human girl glared.

"What?" Xion asked. "I'll melt them afterwards if it's that much of a problem for you!"

"That's _not_ what I meant," Kairi snapped, sitting down in one all the same. She shuddered lightly against the cold surface - it was never cold enough at Yokai Academy to merit any specific attire, so she was sitting on ice in short sleeves. No, not _ice..._ "You cushioned these with snow?"

Xion sighed in a matter that left Kairi with the impression of 'You're going to need the cool-down'. "Where do you want to start."

Kairi sighed. The ice had definitely helped calm her down. "What happened yesterday? During the battle with Kadaj? Everyone's keeping it from me."

The snowgirl drummed the fingers of her unclawed left hand on the arm of her chair. "He has a reason for this, Kairi," she stated. "He's worried about how you're going to react."

"I don't care," Kairi snapped. "Answer my question.

Xion sighed, trying to put the image of Sora out of her mind.

+x+x+x+

_Three minutes earlier_

"Sora?"

Xion stepped towards the vampire as he raised his gaze absently. He had a can of tomato juice in his hand, but though the seal was cracked, he hadn't even taken a sip. "Xion," he murmured.

"Why do you drink that stuff?" Xion asked, sitting down with a cold cola. "Instead of something more, I don't know... flavourful?"

Sora opened his mouth slightly, revealing his teeth had sharpened themselves into fangs for a brief moment, before closing it again.

"Ah," the snowgirl mused. "I see." She cracked her can and took a sip. "Speaking of which - how's Kairi? Naminé told me she's up and about again.

A sigh from Sora. "She's fine. She's grabbing herself a drink. If you're looking for her, she'll be at the vending machines."

His voice made Xion worried. "You two have a fight?" she asked. "Is she... upset about the vampire blood?"

"No," Sora replied. "That's the thing."

Xion saw the problem with the same ease a fighter sees an opponent. "You haven't told her. Have you."

Sora shook his head, taking a sip from his tomato juice.

The snowgirl sighed. "Can't blame you," she muttered, taking another sip of her cola. "So, that's it then? You're going to just hide it from her?"

"I wish I could," Sora murmured. "But the rumour's all over the school. I don't want her to find out the hard way, but..."

"You can't just cower away, Sora," Xion stated firmly. "She needs to know."

"Xion-"

He was cut off as Xion raised her hand. "If _you_ don't tell her," she stated, "_I_ will. And don't say I'm not giving you fair warning."

Sora sighed, setting down his drink. "I need caffeine," he muttered, getting to his feet.

Xion tried to offer him her cola, but Sora refused. The snowgirl was quiet a moment - then she turned to the can of tomato juice and picked it up, taking a sip.

A few seconds later, she quick-froze the mess and tossed it in a trash can when no one was looking.

+x+x+x+

"How far into the fight do you remember?" Xion asked of Kairi.

"Kadaj... he shot some kind of... energy at Naminé," the human girl replied, getting used to the ice-chair. "Riku knocked her out of the way and took the shot so it wouldn't hit me. You and Sora were using your Keys... right?" Xion nodded. "Then... then it just goes blank."

Xion thought a moment. "And... how do _you_ feel?"

"Why are you asking?" Kairi demanded.

"Bodily, I mean," Xion insisted. "Do you feel cut, bruised, broken? Or are you just... stiff, sore?"

Kairi nodded. "Stiff and sore sounds about right," she replied.

Xion sighed. "It must have healed the wounds," she murmured. "Kairi, you took a heavy beating during the battle. You picked up the pieces of Kadaj's twin katana and kind of... rushed him."

"I... _what?_"

"It didn't end well," Xion admitted. "You know that launch-tazer trick of his? Well, he put that in overdrive and hit you through the katanas by means of _lightning_. Then he tried to blast Sora - and you pulled off his crown _and__ took the hit_."

Kairi shook her head. "Don't kid around with me," she snapped. "It would kill me."

Xion nodded. "It almost _did_ kill you," she agreed. "That's why Sora had to take a desperate measure."

The human girl went quiet. "What did he do."

"Do you know what monster blood does?" Xion asked. "It holds an essence of the monster's strength. The more powerful the monster, the more volatile the essence is. Sora - _claws_ Sora - he knew if you didn't get healed _right then and there_, you would have died.

"So he gave you a shot of vampire blood."

Kairi jolted in her seat. "_What?!_"

Xion nodded. "Vampires are among the most powerful of monsters. The blood took you from no breath, no pulse and took you on a zipline up to one-twenty beats a minute. The wounds faded. You healed like a miracle. When it hit your heart..."

The human girl reached for her neck. "What happened?" she asked. "Xion, _what happened?_"

"You had the power of the vampire," Xion stated. "You rushed Kadaj again and sent him flying through the next wall. You passed out for a while after that, but... it saved your life."

Kairi's heart was pounding heavily. "I... you mean... you're saying I-"

Xion raised her gaze. "Kairi, _relax_," she insisted. "Just calm down."

"Calm down. _Yes_, I can calm down. It's _easy_ to calm down. _You want me to **calm down?!**_" Kairi snapped. "Xion, do you have _any_ idea what I'm going through right now?"

The snowgirl closed her eyes. "I have an idea," she admitted.

It was then that the door to the roof opened, and both of the girls turned to see Sora stepping out to see the two girls sitting across from each other.

Xion sighed and got to her feet, leaping off the roof.

Kairi got to her feet, stepped towards Sora and _slapped_ him.

Sora was the first to admit he deserved that.

"What the _hell,_ Sora?!" Kairi shouted.

"Kairi, listen," Sora insisted, "I can explain-"

"Explain. _Explain?_" Kairi demanded. "Explain _what!?_ What, that I-I-I-I'm I'm a fool? That I should have let you die so Kadaj could finish me off? Sora, how am I- _What_ am I supposed to do? You put _vampire_ blood in me! What should I do? Sora, I'm a _human!_ Look, I know I'm not supposed to be here. This is a school for monsters, and I _know_ that. Do you have _any idea_ how many times I've just wanted to _leave_ this place!? I _know_ this place can be dangerous for me. If anyone finds out about me, I'm going to get _killed!_ You think that's not _scary_ for me!? That I'm not _horrified_ that I might die in my sleep because someone managed to piece it all together!?"

"I _know!_" Sora shouted, cutting Kairi. "I _know_ this is hard for you! I _understand!_"

"Then _why did you do this?!_" Kairi shouted back. "Sora, I _don't want_ this! I want to be able to go _back_ to my world! I can't- I can't just- just _turn into_ this! _I want to be human!_ I don't care if you're worried! I don't want you to put _blood_ in me if it's just going to- to _ruin me!_ You can't just _make me a monster!_"_  
_

"I _know!_" Sora cried desperately. "I'm _sorry, _Kairi!"

"Then _what am I supposed to do?!_"

There was quiet for a long moment, the two of them standing there with desperate glares locked on each other.

Sora was the one who pulled away, his gaze falling.

"I don't know."

Kairi held her gaze on him for only a moment more before tearing by him, racing back into the school and slamming the doors behind him.

A single tear fell from Sora's eyes.

"Kairi..."

+x+x+x+

Kairi didn't even pay attention. Students collided with her, sending her ricocheting across the halls, but she just kept running, tears streaming down her face as she ran. She burst through the school doors, but she didn't slow down - she just _kept running,_ into the small woods.

_I don't want you to make me a monster..._

She was paying absolutely no attention to her surroundings, nor even the branches scratching at her arms and legs, so one might understand her surprise when she found herself near the edge of a cliff.

Kairi screamed, stumbling back and managing to not fall off the edge. "What..." She glanced around in shock, horrified. _Why am I..._

"You came..."

The voice caused Kairi to whirl around. Niju Blade was standing there, no helmet and no blades, a smile on her face. "I'm glad you're here," she called.

Kairi realized that her faceless wandering had taken her straight into a battlefield. "What... no, I don't..."

Niju laughed. "Oh, please. I _invited_ you here. It's a battlefield just waiting to happen. What other reason do you have to be here?" Her smile fell.

"A monster can only run blind... and arrive at a cliff like this... when she seeks death."

A shot of horror went through Kairi as Niju gazed at her, worried. "Is that why you're here, Chikai?" she asked worriedly. "Has something happened? Something that's driven you to the brink? Because if that's why you're here..."

Niju sighed, turning away. "Then I won't stop you."

She started to leave, and a horrible realization arose in Kairi's mind. If she were to step away from the cliff, and return to the school like nothing had happened, it would just be one more piece for the suspicious to pick up. Niju Blade was dangerous - but leaving anything else that might imply she _didn't belong here_ was worse.

"Wait, Niju!"

A smile rose on Niju's face as she turned towards Kairi. Plates of steel shot down over her hands, forming the visual 'replacement' effect that Kairi recognized. "I was worried, there, Chikai!"

Kairi gulped and took a hand-to-hand combat stance.

+x+x+x+

Sora was on the roof of the school, sitting on one of the left-behind ice chairs, tears falling from his eyes. Kairi had thrown the words at him that phrased her position in the _worst_ way possible. She was scared.

And if Sora was honest with himself... he was, too.

He set a hand on the crown dangling from his neck. "What's going to happen?" he murmured. "To Kairi? I don't..." He winced. "I don't want this to tear us apart..."

The rosario lit up, shining out against the crown.

_Wait. A. Shit. Did Kairi just say something about making her a monster?!_

Sora's eyes widened. "What?" he asked. "What do you mean?"

_You. Run. Find her. Now!_

When the clawslinger spoke, Sora knew better than to question it. He stumbled off the chair and took off, looking for Kairi.

+x+x+x+

Kairi hit the ground weakly, fumbling her dodge painfully. Niju was fast - not _Sora_ fast, but she definitely knew how to use those blades. Not to mention, she wasn't even fazed by the cliff edges - and she was _actually fighting_.

She set a hand against her neck. "Come on," she murmured. _Come on! I fought Kadaj, right! I threw him through a wall! Niju should be easy to deal with!_ Yet she couldn't feel any power - she was just the same, weak human that she had always been.

Niju shot towards her again, and Kairi made as though to leap to the right; then, when she saw Niju swerve in that direction, she feinted and leapt in the other direction, tumbling against the ground as Niju nearly left battlefield from the momentum. Kairi backed up towards the cliff edge as Niju shot towards her again - but she was ready this time, and Kairi knew that if she tried to dodge, she was finished.

"Kairi!"

Niju spun in a horror to see Sora barging through the trees; and Kairi used that to her advantage, dodging to the side and lashing out with a weak kick that sent Niju tumbling off the cliff.

She stumbled away from the edge, nearly running into Sora before she stopped herself. "That... was... too... close..." she panted.

"Kairi, you..." Sora was in shock. "You tried to _fight_ her?"

"I didn't have a _choice_," Kairi snapped over her shoulder, still somewhat angry at Sora. "If I didn't, it would have just been more suspicious, considering the circumstances."

Sora was surprised. "You... you _didn't have trouble?_" he asked, shocked.

Kairi opened her mouth to retaliate.

She didn't have the chance to.

A surge of water caused her to turn to see Niju shooting out of the water. Her glare was absolutely _murderous_, and she grabbed the edge of the cliff with her bare hands as Kairi saw... _something_ starting to protrude out the side of her neck.

Kairi swore, bracing her stance. "How the _hell_ are you...?!"

"Stay... away... from him!"

She shot forward, grabbing Kairi by the neck. "I will _not_ let you call in the cavalry _now_, Chikai!" she roared. "_You're_ the one who's here to fight!"

She spun, hurling Kairi into the ground so she skidded to the cliff's edge.

"So _fight!_"

Kairi stumbled to her feet, taking a low clawslinger stance. She saw Sora looking worried, but that didn't have time to register proper before Niju rushed her; no blades, only claws.

She lashed out with a straight kick.

The second her foot connected with Niju's armour, there went her strike.

The impact was enough to make Kairi's leg burn with pain as Niju drove her shoulder into Kairi's stomach, sending both of them plummeting towards the water. Sora _screamed_ Kairi's name, rushing to the cliff's edge.

Kairi managed to propel herself away from Niju and arced into a proper dive, trying to avoid a full-body contact with the water. The good news was that she didn't paralyze herself. The bad news was she went pretty damn close to the bottom of the water before her momentum wore off, and it was a struggle to right herself so she could propel herself to the water's surface.

The other bad news: _Niju's hand closed around her neck._

Sora's breath was heavy, his eyes wide in fear. "No. No. No no no _NO! KAIRI!_"

_Damn it! I knew it! That fool must have jumped to conclusions!_

Kairi broke the water's surface with momentum. That was a good thing.

Niju was flying after her. Not so much.

The human girl hit the water flat this time, stunning her long enough for Niju to grab her. She didn't look like an armoured swordstress anymore; her legs had elongated into a scaled, finned tail, and there were fins protruding from the sides of her face.

"Your boyfriend can't save you down here!" Niju shouted. "Now come on! Show me what you can do!"

Kairi gasped, grabbing at her neck. "What... are you?!" she gasped, trying to grab air while she was still above the water.

Niju smirked, cracks appearing across her face. "You thought I was one of those fairytale good-girls?" she snapped. "No, Chikai - _this_ is what a real seagirl looks like!" She raised her high and slammed her into the water, forcing her towards the ocean floor.

Kairi opened her gaze to see her opponent shooting towards her - with _three rows of sharpened fangs roaring__ at her!_

**_Bite-Sized Monster Encyclopedia: Mermaid  
_**_Contrary to the sweet image projected in popular fairytales, sailors know that these terrible beauties portend shipwrecks and death._

Somehow, Kairi managed to dodge an aquatic foe moving at nearly the speed of a werewolf while underwater. She lashed out with a kick at Niju's stomach and shot towards the surface, trying to reach it for another breath of air.

Then a claw hooked itself in her leg and _pulled_.

Kairi's scream tore through the water and bored itself into Sora's ears. "_Kairi!_" he shouted. Like he needed another excuse. As he prepared to chase after her, his rosario lit up against his crown._  
_

_Don't even **think** about it! You don't stand a **chance** in the water! If you're that desperate to help her, climb down the wall and wait til she surfaces! Otherwise you're-_

"I _don't_ _**CARE!**_"

Sora took three steps forward and leapt, driving his feet against the edge off the cliff and launching himself straight into a dive. The wind raced past him as he formed his Keyblade in hand - and he braced it at his side in time to see Kairi break the surface, Niju with a webbed, clawed hand around her neck.

"_Hands..._"_  
_

Niju raised her gaze in horror to see Sora arcing his Keyblade to swing.

"**_OFF!_**"

He lashed out, striking Niju in the helm with enough force to send her flying, and she released Kairi, causing the human girl to drop briefly.

Then Sora hit the water.

A sound like an electric bomb ripped through the air, and Sora gave a shout of pain that echoed through the water dreadfully. Sea creatures in all directions scattered like falling pebbles, and the force of the cry was enough to spur the weakened Kairi into action. She began to pull herself through the water, scrambling towards Sora, and when she was near enough to touch him she reached for his rosario.

Sora grabbing her arm stopped her, and to Kairi's shock he pulled the human girl towards him and put his arms around her.

And Kairi felt his fangs break her skin.

Niju was racing back towards them, not letting her prey escape before she finished her fight. A flare of energy caused her to skid to a stop in horror, raising her hands before her, and she was shocked to see the water _parting_ like it had descended on something. Two figures were silhouetted against the flare, and when it parted Niju was shocked to see a blur shoot out of the water and land on the side of the cliff.

It was Kairi Chikai.

Under her left arm was Sora Kingdom.

Upon her right hand were _claws like pin tumbler keys._

Flowing from her helm was _hair like obsidian._

She opened her eyes - and those eyes were _seas of blood_.

Niju gave a horrified scream as Kairi gave her not a moment's glare before scrambling up the cliffside with one hand. The sea-warrior mermaid shook her head to clear it and shot out of the water, digging her own claws into the cliff and dragging herself up the side as she chased after Kairi. She lashed out with her claws, but Kairi only swept her feet out of the way.

_Do you see now, you fool?_

Water began to drip from Niju's cracked face as she lashed out with a shot of compressed water; but Kairi only flared to the side, causing it to hit and shatter the cliff face.

_You're not a monster - you're still just a weakling!_

Niju forced the stone out of her face and went into rapid-fire mode, launching three shots a second as Kairi climbed.

_A shot of vampire blood will give you the power of the vampire - for a while!_

The mermaid's opponent kept racing skyward, dodging blow after blow until she grabbed the cliff's edge and pulled herself into a whirling flip.

_You're fighting on **borrowed** strength..._

Niju grabbed the edge and pulled herself over, already preparing to launch another shot.

_...and it'll only last you a few minutes if you're **lucky!**_

A foot promptly connected with the mermaid's forehead.

_And when that's over, you're just a snack again!_

Kairi then proceeded to arc her other leg forward as she pulled herself into a whirling flip and slammed it into Niju's face, sending the mermaid _flying_. The warrior girl flew a good seventeen metres before she hit the water, disappearing below the surface as Kairi stepped away, feeling the power start to fade from her body.

_You didn't think the strength of the _Nosferatu _came _**_that_**_ easy, did you?_

For a brief moment, she could see the clawslinger's face, a dark smirk locked on her face.

_Now do both of us a favour, Kairi - and keep playing the pacifist._

+x+x+x+

The first thing Kairi thought as she drifted back towards consciousness; _Why do I always wake up feeling sore?_ The second; _For the love of blood, clawslinger Sora's right calling me a weakling_

"Okay, even _vampires_ don't say 'for the love of blood', so I don't know _where_ you got that from."

Kairi opened her eyes to see Sora kneeling at her side with a confused look on his face. They were on a small hill near the Monster Tree, and as Kairi rose she could it was starting to get dark out.

"How long have I been out?" she demanded.

"A couple hours," Sora replied, tumbling into a sitting position for himself - although keeping his distance. "Don't worry. You're not gonna hit a coma every time..." He trailed off and sighed, glancing away.

Kairi just looked towards the school, thoughts coursing through her head. _I remember... This time, I remember everything. The clawslinger... he explained everything. I remember it all so vividly._

She groaned and gripped her forehead. "Since when are mermaids so... dark?"

Sora turned. "You don't forget this time?" he asked.

"No," she replied, turning towards him. "You... you dove headfirst into the water... to protect me."

The vampire bit his lip. "Yeah..."

Kairi sighed. "You're a bit of a fool, you know that?"

"Yeah, I kinda got the riot shout on the way down," Sora admitted. "Sorry..."

The two were quiet for a moment. "Do you feel weak?" Kairi asked finally.

Sora raised her gaze. "Why...?"

"Well, it made you weak before," Kairi replied.

"And it only stopped when you made me drink your blood," Sora reminded her.

Kairi sighed. "Well, I'm not going to make you this time."

Sora blinked four times in rapid succession. "Wait, _what?_"

"I'm sorry, I kinda... I was _really_ rude to you earlier," Kairi admitted. "And that makes two shots you've given me. So..." She sighed, pulling on the collar of her shirt to better expose her neck. "Here."

The vampire hesitated, but after only a moment he pulled himself forward. His teeth sharpened themselves into fangs as he sank them into Kairi's neck, and Kairi winced slightly as the familiar drawing sensation coursed through her; but she didn't try to pull away.

A loud crashing sound caused Kairi and Sora to both spin, tearing Sora's fangs out in the most _unpleasant_ and slightly _painful_ manner possible. It was not without merit, however, for sitting there, struggling to get to his feet was a familiar sophomore._  
_

"_Riku?!_"

The werewolf raised his gaze. "Oh, Mulch."

* * *

Draco: Italics overdose? YES. Sorry. Angry argument on behalf of the recipient of the vampire blood? _YES._ That's to be read in rapid fire. Someone being pissed off when the vampire drinks the human's blood? **_YES. _**Although that one is not as similar to the manga as the others. Hope you all enjoy!

Responses to my reviewers who do not have accounts:

-SorasPrincesss/SP: Your continued admiration of my fanfic is appreciated. 'Nuf said.  
-Jaxine-Gia: You are _clearly_ liking Kairi with power and I do not blame you. No, she will not become a regular fighter purely because of Sora's vampire blood. Yes, she will become a regular fighter by other means.  
-Mya: Hope you're still constantly checking, because I much appreciate your reviews. I can tell you're gonna love what I have in mind - and I actually hadn't considered that necklace! Thanks for bringing that up!


	12. Birthday Wishes

Draco: Sorry for the huge wait, guys! Got hit with writer's block. In the dual core. On its way to my head. Anyways, birthday chapter! Yeah! Figured this was a good place to drop it.

Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 12: Birthday Wishes**

After the incident with the vampire blood, things started picking up fast. As usual, the school stubbornly refused to provide a story, so the news club kept working on the extras again. To Kairi's surprise, Xion and Roxas had decided to switch over to the news club - apparently, news stories got very interesting.

Naminé was quite pleased to find out that the readers much liked her 'art tips' column, and so the club decided to make them a regular thing. Roxas also threw out a few ideas for extras columns, so he, Sora, Kairi, and Xion got started on those, preparing to leave their new regular 'What Did You Think'? box on the back.

Time flew while they tried to find a story, and Kairi was surprised when she woke up one morning to find a familiar date looming menacingly close without warning.

_Wow,_ she mused, gazing at the calendar with a curious look on her face. _Guess that's what happens when you enroll in a school for monsters. You forget about your own birthday._ She gave herself an exasperated sigh. She'd had the jerks and the jackasses forget about her birthday before, but never herself. That just shows you _how_ taxing Yokai Academy can be.

Three days. The event was in three days, and she wasn't sure she had told anyone when it was.

Another sigh passed through her lips, but this one was planning that brought a smile to her lips. Maybe when the day came along, she and Sora could go for a ride. Sneak off Yokai grounds on Cloud's motorcycle. Hit a gourmet diner in the human world. And maybe...

Kairi realized where she was going and _smacked_ herself. _Hard_.

Then she got to her feet and prepared to get ready, pushing the thoughts away with a mental note of _You've got_ issues_, Chikai_.

+x+x+x+

"Wait up, freshies!"

Sora, Roxas, Xion, and Naminé turned to see Riku barreling towards them at newmoon speed. He cut himself into a skid five metres away and had time to say "You will not _believe_ what's coming up this weekend, guys" before coming to a stop on the other side of the group.

Xion gave him an icy glare, clearly taking offense to the 'freshies' comment. Riku tried not to sweat nervously.

"Alright, Kurai, I'll bite," Roxas mused, causing the werewolf to turn to him. "What's coming up this weekend?"

"Kairi's birthday," Riku replied. "It's Sunday and we've all been working so hard that I don't even think _she_ noticed it."

Naminé gave him a suspicious look. "Okay, how did you remember?"

"Hell, how do you even _know?_" Sora asked.

Riku spun to face him. "I think it was... after the Artemis incident? While you were sleeping in, Kairi was just making friendly conversation. I made the mistake of bringing up a wild party and Kairi got upset. She hasn't had a good birthday party for _years_. As for how I _remember_," he added, turning to Naminé, "I must have been the only one who wrote it down. I was looking for my papers when I found my note."

"You took _notes?_" Naminé asked. "You _never_ take notes."

It was then that Kairi's call of "Hey, guys!" caused everyone to clam up, turning to see her dashing towards them. "Come on," she insisted, "we're gonna be late!"

She dashed right past, not even noticing the five of them exchange glances.

"Tonight," Riku insisted. "School roof. Midnight. Bring a schedule."

"Agreed."

+x+x+x+

The school day passed by quickly. During club period, Kairi noticed a suspicious fluency at the speed with which the others were working - which might be why she kept fumbling when she was writing her column.

"You alright?" Sora asked. "You keep messing up."

Kairi shook her head. "I'm fine," she insisted, grabbing a new sheet of paper - there were too many eraser marks on this one.

Riku drummed the fingers of his right hand on the desk as he glanced at the nearly completed column in his left. "Hey, Kairi," he asked, "would you happen to have any plans for this weekend?"

The question caught Kairi off-guard. "This weekend?" she asked, surprised. "Um..." Her earlier thoughts managed to sneak back into her mind. Attempting to gun them down, she replied, "Not... Nothing on a strict schedule." She raised her gaze. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," he replied. "I didn't want to come looking for you if you weren't going to be there." He gave her a subtle wink and went back to work. Kairi's face lit up like a bonfire.

Sora tried to kick Riku under the table. It missed, hit the leg of his chair and caused the seat to collapse, resulting in Riku crashing his facial features into the desk. When he picked himself up, his nose was bleeding, and he raised a hand to it as he tried to stem the flow.

"I need a tissue," he murmured, stepping out of the room.

+x+x+x+

Riku was standing atop the small structure that allowed access to the roof when Sora and Xion showed up, a few minutes prior to midnight. They were already talking amiably with each other; although a moment of listening in on the conversation revealed they were talking about the potential party, they were definitely enjoying each others' company. Riku gave a sigh and dropped down near-silently.

Near-silent wasn't enough.

Xion spun around, claws of ice forming around her right hand as bursts of icy fire flew from it. Riku yelped and floored himself, and the cold flames hit the gate surrounding the walkway, forming a wall of ice. The werewolf actually had to grab his hair to stop the ice spread from catching it as he got to his feet.

"I'm going to pretend that didn't happen," he murmured, facing the ground as he caught the back of his head.

The door slammed open and hit him in the forehead, causing him to crash into the ice as Roxas stepped out. Riku pushed the door away from him with a glare on his face and reached out to call Soul Eater to hand when Naminé stepped out. Upon seeing Roxas she shyly and hastily turned away - crashing face-first into Riku.

Their lips clashed without warning.

Riku pulled away with a leap, tripped on the roof gate, and stumbled. He tried to grab the spikes, but they were frozen over, and Riku tumbled onto the earth painfully. Naminé, on the other hand, now had a face that would melt that ice on contact as she raced her pencil across her sketchook.

Sora was watching without a word, both bemused and amused at how Riku managed to keep getting himself into miserable consequences today.

A few vines lashed themselves around the posts on either side of the frozen patch, pulling Riku up onto the roof with a miserable expression on his face and Soul Eater in hand. "It's official," he muttered, bracing the dragon wingblade to break the ice. "My day _sucks_."

He drove the tip into the ice.

It proceeded to sit there.

+x+x+x+

The next couple days consisted of Riku, Sora, Naminé, Xion, and Roxas guiltily planning a party behind Kairi's back. They pulled it off swiftly; Xion running late due to having 'frozen her window solid from the sun waking her up', Naminé 'forgetting' her art samples, Riku headdesking again, this time crashing the corner of the table near his eye (and punching Sora in the back of the head for it).

Kairi was surprisingly not suspicious, and no one understood why - until Riku left, and a smile lit up on Kairi's face. Sora noticed. "What are you grinning about?" he asked.

"Yesterday, I was a little bit out of focus," she replied. "Today, all of you are having a ton of trouble. And Riku is _still_ having a horrible scenario with his seat and his workspace. Talk about unbalanced."

Sora, Roxas, and Xion exchanged glances and started chuckling. Roxas was the one who cut himself off abruptly. "Now that you mentioned that, I left the stove on."

Kairi was confused. As Roxas got to his feet "What were you using-"

"Chikai," Roxas interrupted, raising a hand. "Just don't."

He spun and raced out of the room, causing Kairi to turn to Xion. "What was he using the stove for in the morning?" she asked suspiciously.

"He's... he's kind of... sensitive to cold," Xion stuttered. "If he doesn't get a warm meal in the morning, he's going to be shivering all day."

Kairi thought about it for a moment, remembering Roxas blasting Larxene with fire. "Makes sense," she murmured. "I think."

+x+x+x+

The weekend was coming near, and between schoolwork, club work, planning Kairi's party, and the horrible luck that was turning the werewolf into a butt monkey, Riku had his hands quite full. They managed to get the party set up overnight, so that on the morning of Kairi's birthday party, everything was ready. They were holding it in the ruins of an old school building, but that didn't mean they hadn't made it look absolutely _beautiful_.

Naminé was glad they had pulled it off. "Great job, guys!" she called, looking around. "This place is perfect!"

"You're talking like you're the one who set this up," Riku muttered as he finished hanging streamers.

The witch only smiled. "Well, it'll sound a little narcissistic if you compliment yourself," she admitted, "so I figured I'd save you the trouble."

Sora stepped forward, clapping his hands together. "Alright," he called, "we all remember what we're bringing?"

Roxas nodded. "Triple-layer chocolate-vanilla marble cake," he called. "Ice it with deep blue, thalassa shell patterns around the sides in sunset pink-and-orange, big golden paopu star on top and candy dust to sand around the base."

"What do the leaves look like, _Rokusasu_?" Xion insisted with an eyebrow raised.

"Twin tufts on the bottom tips, crown at the top," Roxas shot back at her, a smile on his face. "I got it, _Shi-oh_."

Naminé interrupted their volley. "Cola for you and Kairi," she said to Sora, "root beer for Riku, I wanted some fruit punch, packed a couple cans of tomato juice in case you got bloodthirsty, and... Roxas, you said orange soda?"

"You got it."

The werewolf scratched the back of his head. "I was bringing potato chips, right?" he asked. "Classic, Sea Salt and Pepper, Dill Pickle, All Dressed - I've got 'em all covered."

"Bingo," Sora replied. "And... Xion?"

"Ice, ice, baby," she called, a sneaky grin on her face. Sora gave her what was attempted to be a glare, but it came out with a huge smile on his face. "Fine," the snowgirl replied, waving a hand dismissively, "I'll bring the poker and the board games, too."

"Good," Sora prompted.

Riku stepped up to him. "Hey, I'm counting on you to make sure she shows up," he insisted. "Alright? I don't want to leave this all for nothing."

Sora rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about it," he stated. "Just make sure no one else has left anything that'll put us in danger. I don't want any rain or fire traps giving us trouble."

"I took down the sprinkler system two days ago," Riku insisted. "Would you relax?"

"Good."

+x+x+x+

Kairi woke up feeling strangely giddy. Then she told herself, _Stop forgetting about your own birthday._ She got up and got ready, hoping to see Sora.

Sora, as it happened, was busy making sure everyone was prepared with the party. Riku had already delivered the chips, Xion was cracking ice with the games sitting right next to her, and Naminé had brought the drinks. Roxas was on his way with the cake, and the moment Sora caught sight of him he took off in search of Kairi.

The human girl had stopped using the dagger-esque swords that Sora had given her. Ever since the incident with the vampire blood, a weapon in her hands just... didn't feel right. That didn't, however, stop her from dropping by the fight club room and beating on a bag just to keep in shape; and besides, a bit of practice never hurt anyone.

Severely.

After lifting a fabric burn over her leg, Kairi stepped out of the fight area. She hadn't seen any of the others this morning, so she decided to make her way to the news club room and get a bit of extra work done on her column for the new issue.

When Sora hadn't seen Kairi around the dorm room, he figured she would be in the clubroom. He was on his way there when a blur nearby caused him to spin in place curiously. He gave a curious 'hm' and turned back towards the school.

His rosario lit up without warning.

_Drop!_

Sora, idiot that he was, whirled into a spin, in time to see an open palm slam into his face.

+x+x+x+

Riku was getting irritated. Blame the werewolf speed for making time crawl, but Sora was taking _forever_ to get Kairi over here. Naminé and Roxas were enjoying each others' company, and Xion was sitting boredly next to a large bowl of unmelting ice.

"This is stupid," Riku muttered after a while. "He should be long back by now."

Naminé turned to him unimpressedly. "Come on, Riku," she insisted, "he hasn't been gone that long."

Xion shook her head. "He has," she mused. "It shouldn't take him this long."

Riku sighed. "I'm going to grab Kairi myself," he insisted. "See you guys."

He turned and stepped away.

Naminé only shrugged it off and resumed her conversation with Roxas.

+x+x+x+

Riku found Kairi alone in the club room. "You're still working in here?" he asked.

The human girl raised her gaze. "Oh, hey, Riku." She nodded. "Yeah, I haven't got anything else to do."

A smile lit up on Riku's face. "You wanna do something about that?" he prompted.

Kairi was surprised. "What?"

"Come on," Riku insisted. "I've got something to show you."

To his surprise, Kairi shook her head, a heated blush on her face. "I can't," she insisted.

Riku stopped. "Why not?"

"I... I've been waiting for Sora," she admitted. "There's something I wanted to talk to him about."

"Like what?" Riku asked.

"Just... not now, okay?" Kairi insisted.

Riku grit his teeth. "Come on, Kairi _please_?" he insisted. "I need ten- _five_ minutes of your time. Would you please come with me?"

"I said _no_, Kurai," the human girl snapped, locking a glare on Riku.

The werewolf gave an exasperated sigh. He couldn't head back without Kairi, but arguing the point was going to do more harm than good - to both of them.

He took the middle option. "If he doesn't show up in the next ten," he prompted, "meet me in front of the school."

Kairi didn't get a chance to protest. Riku only turned on his heel and stepped out.

+x+x+x+

Riku hadn't been gone a minute when Xion heard suspicious footsteps from outside. She raised her gaze. "He can't be back yet, can he?" she mused. "Even _Riku_ can't move that fast - not with Kairi behind him."

Roxas glanced at the entrance. "Maybe Sora's back with her?" he prompted.

Xion looked eager at that. "I'll go see," she mused, getting to her feet.

A vine wrapped around her waist and dragged her back to her seat as Naminé got up, slipping her pencil into the rings of her sketchbook. "Allow me," the witch insisted. "Might as well do _something _impressive," she muttered under her breath as she started towards the entrance of the structure.

Xion clipped the vine with a claw of ice. "What's that about?"

Roxas shrugged.

Naminé neared the entrance of the building as the footsteps came to a pause. "Sora?" she called. "What took you so long?"

There was a clattering sound and a deep curse.

The witch stopped in her tracks, slipping her pencil from her book. "Who's there?" she asked.

"Naminé?"

That caused Roxas to turn as Naminé stepped back. "Show yourself!" she shouted.

Probably not her best choice.

+x+x+x+

Ten minutes later, Kairi showed up outside the school to find a line carved into the dirt, preceded by rough letters forming the name _Riku_. Kairi - who had been disappointed that Sora hadn't shown up - absently followed the trail a long way out of the school until she found herself approaching what looked like the ruins of an old school building.

Soul Eater was sitting next to them.

Kairi picked up the blade, a look of shock in her eyes. She raised her gaze and charged in, keeping the dragonwing in her hand until she skidded to a stop.

The place looked like it used to be horrible, but there was a _party_ set up. Streamers, balloons, decorations. Soft drinks were littered across the table, along with a few cans of tomato juice, a bowl of ice that was only just melting was on one end, and there was a _cake_ sitting in the middle. A poker set was sitting nearby, bags of potato chips were piled against the legs, and various wrapped boxes were swarmed across the floor.

Because another table nearby was _shattered_.

Riku turned at Kairi's footsteps to see her standing there. A grim smile rose on his face.

"Surprise," he called weakly.

"Riku?" Kairi stepped forward. "What...? Is this... You set up a _party_?"

"Yeah," Riku murmured. "Thought I'd forgotten?" His face fell. "Sorry... it's not what I had planned."

Kairi was in shock. "Riku... I... _What happened_?"

Riku held out a piece of paper. "This."

The human girl accepted the sheet and looked it over.

_Riku Kurai.  
Hello again. Pity you're still up and running. Well, I've got news for you - you got two options. **Stop** running. Or start. Running._ _**Faster.  
**__We have spiky and the twins. Still working on Roxy as of writing, but you can bet your fur coat we'll have him by the time you find this. __If you don't want us to have our way with them, send your girlfriend to the Monster Durian Clearing before sundown. Alone. We'll contact you when you're allowed to see her.  
__Oh, and don't try to take her and run, because she's going to kill you for that and we **are** going to hold you down so she doesn't miss.  
__~Struggler_

"Struggler?" Kairi asked, raising her gaze. "Who's that?"

Riku growled. "A troublemaker," Riku replied. "He's part of a gang who used to hang out at Altar Cave_. _He's known for playing dirty to make up for his reckless fighting style. He challenged me to a match once and kicked my ass with his tricks. I told everyone he was cheating and no one ever accepted a match from him again. The next thing you know..." He sighed. "He's a player."

Kairi turned to him. "A 'player'?" Her eyes widened. "You mean-?"

"Yeah," Riku admitted. "I do." He beckoned to the note in her hands. "And now, he's looking for a crowd."

"Riku..."

The werewolf turned to her. "What now?" he asked.

Kairi shook her head. "I don't know," she insisted. "I'm no good with a blade, ever since... that incident with Kadaj and Larxene. But I can't go in there unarmed, or I..." She winced. "I'm just... done for."

Riku fell quiet for a moment. Then he turned to the scattered pile of presents and picked up a small, rectangular box before turning to Kairi again. "I wanted you to save this until a more... crucial time, but... Here."

The human girl glanced at the box for a moment. Slowly, she accepted it, looking over it carefully before opening the flap at the end and drawing it out.

It was a needle.

_Filled with crimson_.

Kairi's gaze widened, and she turned to Riku. "Is this...?"

Riku held out his left hand, revealing a bandage wrapped around his wrist. "I had Naminé and Xion help me with it."

"Riku, I..." Kairi looked at the needle for a moment. "You..."

The werewolf was scared that Kairi was offended. "I'm sor-"

He was cut off as Kairi threw her arms around Riku in a tight hug. "Thank you, Riku."

Riku was silent for a moment before briefly returning the hug; then the two of them pulled away, and Kairi handed the needle to him, drawing her hair back. "Clawslinger knows the fastest way to make it take effect," she insisted, setting a finger to the point on her neck where Sora had bit her before.

"Alright," Riku replied, setting the tip of the needle against her neck, and Kairi winced as the tip scratched lightly against her skin.

"Happy birthday, Kairi."

Then he pushed the needle in.

+x+x+x+

Sora opened his eyes.

"Where...?"

He rose to a sitting position, looking around curiously. He appeared to be in a small clearing, with wire grating weaving a barrier around them. A sharp blow to his helm knocked him back; when his vision cleared, he found himself gazing at a girl with steel-blue hair draped over one eye.

"Down," she snapped matter-of-factly.

"Come on, relax, Fuu." The voice caused Sora to turn to see another figure leaning back on a tree with low enough branches that he could drape his hands over them. He had hair that frayed up like it was trying to grab something, and a sleeveless vest that belonged on the street was open over his shoulders. "Don't break your toy before you get to play with it."

Sora glanced at him. "Who are you?"

"Struggler," the guy replied.

The vampire snickered. "They call you that for a reason?"

The girl smacked him again.

Struggler was clearly not impressed. "Just sit down and hope your girlfriend shows up. Speaking of which - Fuu, did the twins wake up yet?"

"Twins?" Sora asked.

"What, have you not seen them side by side before?" Struggler called. "Sure, they dress black and white, but the faces are damn near identical."

Sora's eyes widened. "Wait... Naminé! Xion!"

He tried to get to his feet. Fuu went to smack him again, but Sora dodged and grabbed her arm. This resulted in Fuu lashing out with a kick that knocked him across the floor.

It was then that something ran into the grating.

Struggler turned. Whoever had run into the grating was trapped in the shadows. There were a few fast blows to the grating before they started skidding against the bark of one of the trees. Struggler growled. "Kurai, I told you to-"

He was cut off when a slap crossed his face with enough speed to spin him three times before he hit the ground.

Fuu and Sora both turned.

"_Kairi?!_"

It _was_ Kairi - but it was Kairi with streaks of fur coursed up her arms and down her legs. Her eyes were sharp and feral, and as Struggler got to his feet he was shocked to see who - and what - it was.

"Oh, Mulch."

That was all he got out before Kairi slammed a kick into his stomach that knocked him across the lot.

Kairi's eyes were storming in all directions at high speed. Riku's words as the injection had taken effect were running through her mind. _Don't go reckless with your strikes. You don't have power - you have __**speed. **And you only have it for twenty minutes, tops. The Monster Durain Clearing is straight on the other side of the school building. Get to the clearing, grab Sora and the others, and take off_.

The way Struggler was reacting made Kairi suspicious about 'not having power', but she didn't waste time testing that theory; she had wasted more time than she'd thought trying to find the clearing. She only turned towards Sora and shot forward. Fuu tried to lash out, but Kairi only arced around the blow with such speed it was almost like she teleported; then she drove her heel into the girl's back and sent her flying as she spun to face Sora.

"Kairi, what...?"

"Where'sNaminéandXion?"

Sora blinked at the speed of her words, but he managed to make out her question. "I don't know. It doesn't look like they're here. Maybe Struggler's got another-"

He was shut up as Struggler shot towards them. Sora started to call his Keyblade to hand, but Kairi only stepped in front of him. Struggler was lashing out, but Kairi managed to block the blows with a flurry of hand-stops before lashing out with a fist towards his stomach. Struggler, however, clearly remembered Riku's moves enough to act seven seconds ahead, which means his fingers closed around Kairi's hand.

Then he lashed out with a single solid blow that knocked her down.

Kairi struggled to get to her feet. She saw Fuu dashing towards her, but she dashed her hands against the clearing floor, launching her upright - and straight towards a multi-bladed disc that was aiming towards her. She shot low under it, arced her feet back into a kick to knock it out of trajectory; then she palmed the floor and launched into the air, landing at Sora's side.

Her hand closed around Struggler's wrists.

Then Sora shot to his feet, his Keyblade in hand, and caught Fuu's disc strike against his Key.

Kairi was relieved she wouldn't have to worry about fighting two opponents. "WhereareNaminéXionandRoxas?" she demanded at rapid fire.

"What's it to you?" Struggler demanded.

Kairi drove her knee into his stomach. "Answermyquestion," she snapped.

Struggler only chuckled. "They're not here."

His opponent raised her hand for another blow, but he anticipated it and caught it on his arm, wincing. "You want to get them back, but Rai's taken them to one of my other traps. Fool doesn't have enough heart to hit a girl, so you don't need to worry about the twins, but if Roxy chooses not to cooperate I don't even know _what_ that musclehead might do."

Kairi tried to fight against him, but as she tried to break his guard she saw the fur on her arms starting to retract into her skin. She lashed out with a knee to the stomach, slammed her elbow into his back, and arced into a roundhouse kick that sent him crashing into the gate, each blow slower than the last; then she turned to Fuu and lashed out with an open-palm blow before all her energy left her.

Fuu saw the strike and raised one hand to catch it. That weakened the force that was applying with her wheel weapon against Sora's Key, which enabled Sora to send it flying. As Kairi struggled to stay up, Sora then procceded to raise his Keyblade to Fuu's neck with one hand, leaving the other to catch Kairi as she started to collapse.

"Where are they?" Sora demanded.

"Unknown," Fuu stated.

Sora touched the teeth to her chin threateningly.

"Unknown!" Fuu insisted through clenched teeth. "Raijin!"

At that moment, something clattered against the gate. Sora, Kairi, and Fuu all turned to see pair of vines snaking between links in the gate. They managed to arc over the top of the barrier, impale in the ground, and force the grating to the ground as Xion and Naminé stepped forward.

"Hey, there, birthday girl!" Naminé called.

"Sorry these fools had to crash your party," Xion insisted.

Kairi smiled weakly. "Thanks..."

A low chuckle caused everyone to turn towards Struggler, who had somehow got to his feet. "Well, well, well," he mused. "Looks like everybody's here. Perfect timing."

He shot forward with a wild dash. Ice raced across Xion's hand as Naminé reached for her book, but before they could strike, Struggler was already there, his left hand racing as though to strike Xion between the eyes - and Xion was at his right side.

Instead, his left palm connected with Xion's face as his right connected with his own.

A shining flare emerged that whited out the world, causing everyone to cover their eyes.

* * *

Draco: Yes, it's a huge cliffhanger. I'm sorry, but I needed to get this out! It's been waiting for too long! Hope you all enjoy!


	13. Mirror Match

Draco: Alright, let's see if I can keep moving this time. Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 13: Mirror Match**

Struggler was standing there. But Kairi could _only_ tell it was Struggler because of the garments. His skin was pale and smooth, and his clothes were loose over his body. He pulled his left hand from Xion's face, and a set of icy claws formed around it; another set formed around his right hand before he pulled it away from his own face.

_It was **Xion's** face._

And when he spoke_, it was **Xion's** voice!_

"Anyone up for a mirror match?"

He lashed out with a deadly ice-clawed cross-strike that sent Xion and Naminé falling back. He raised the set of claws over his left hand, sending bolts of icy fire flying at Naminé until the witch was quick-frozen against the ground. Xion rolled as she hit the ground, the claws on her right hand digging into the earth as she pulled herself forward with a deadly swing; but before she could strike, Struggler was already behind her, tearing her cloak off and lashing out with a straight-kick that sent her flying. She hit the ground in only a tight black undershirt and some close-fit black leggings.

Kairi was watching in horror. Sora held her close and raised his Keyblade threateningly as Struggler turned to them.

"I'm not a fighter," the mirror-figure stated, twisting Xion's voice into a deadly taunt. "Not a good one. What I _am_ good at is turning other monsters' power against them. There's nothing more frightening than fighting yourself - and if you pick the right face in the crowd..."

He lashed out with a kick back that caught the speeding Xion in the stomach. "...it's like shootin' fish in a barrel."

The Xion-faced Struggler arced into a spin, catching Xion's claws on his own before driving his other set towards her neck. A bolt of icy fire struck Xion, pinning her to the ground with an arc of solid ice as Struggler completed the spin, slipping into the snowgirl's cloak.

"I'm a _walking double_. And I've got _no_ qualms about beating myself to a pulp."

_**Bite-Sized Monster Encyclopedia: Doppelgänger  
**Literally 'double walker' in German. According to legend, those who look upon their doppelgänger are destined to die within a few days. This monster's true appearance is a mystery._

Sora pulled away from Kairi, making sure she could stand, before rushing forward with a deadly thrust. Struggler saw him coming and gave him a smirk with Xion's face, catching the blow between two claws on his left hand before lashing out towards him, icy fire blazing across his right. The strike connected with Sora's right hand, and the Keyslinger released his Keyblade, lashing out with a skyward kick that sent the shaft wheeling into Struggler's head. He stumbled back, only to recover and send bolts of icy fire flying towards Sora.

His silver Keyblade appeared again, and he whirled the weapon in hand, catching the ice and letting it frost against the surface; then he hurled the weapon towards Struggler. The doppelgänger dodged, grabbing the frozen weapon by the handle; then the Key faded, leaving the empty ice shell in his hand, and the silver reappeared in Sora's as he shot forward with another rushing blow.

Struggler caught the Key in his left set of claws before lashing the Keyshell towards Sora. The vampire arced around it, setting his foot on the ice shell before pulling the Key out of Struggler's claws and crushing the teeth into his shoulder. Struggler yelped with Xion's voice, pulling away before Sora grabbed the frost; then he braced it in hand, frozen air in his left hand, blazing silver in his right.

"This should be fun," he mused.

Xion heard his Key clash against Struggler's claws as she tried to break the arc around her neck; but only now did she realize how powerful flash-frozen icefire could be. Everything she did to break it was an agonizingly gradual pace; yet slowly, but surely, she managed to hear it crack.

Sora putting up a fight was one thing; but when footsteps hit the gate, and everyone saw Riku step in, Struggler knew he was absolutely _screwed_.

Riku only needed to look for one second to know that the Xion that had claws on both hands, locked in combat with Sora, was Struggler in mimicry. Dark mist volted from his hand as he shot forward at uncaught speeds, driving a flurry of kicks and punches into the doppelgänger before Soul Eater was even there; then he arced into a spin and sent the monster flying, crashing into another one of the gates and only just missing Kairi in the process.

The werewolf turned to the trapped Xion and the frozen Naminé, driving Soul Eater into the ice around the witch; but his wingblade only drove two inches into the ice and stuck there. Cursing, he tried to pull it out, but it was suddenly stuck fast, leaving him turning to Struggler empty-handed. Struggler glared at him, then looked at Sora and had a feeling there was nothing he could do.

He flared his ice-clawed hands back, grabbed onto the grating, and leapt, flying over it. He stopped just long enough to raise the cloak's hood over Xion's face before taking off.

After a moment, a fragmenting caused everyone to turn. Xion was on her feet again, ice shards stuck on her garments. Her two-shaft kanji Keyblade appeared in her hand, and she turned and set it against the frozen Naminé. Cracks started to, ever so slowly, appear across it, and the snowgirl turned to them, pulling Riku's sword from the ice and tossing it to him.

"You two go!" she insisted. "This is going to take a while, and you can't let him get away with my face!"

Sora bit his lip. "Alright," he agreed. "Stay safe!"

Riku stopped him from leaving. As Sora turned, Riku made a 'give it here' gesture, causing Sora to sigh and hand him the frozen Keyblade shell. Riku turned to Kairi, who had managed a steady stance, and flipped the ice shell in hand, handing it to her.

Kairi accepted. "Thank you."

The three of them took off, chasing after Struggler.

+x+x+x+

The forest was like a maze. If it weren't for the crude path - no, it was more like a _tunnel_ - that had been crafted through the foliage, trimmed with frost, they never would have found Struggler; but eventually, they managed to arrive at another fenced-off clearing.

Riku charged in first, and icefire hit him in the legs.

Kairi slid in behind him, spinning to catch the burst on her ice-shell Key.

Sora was at the back, and it was he who was grabbed by the shirt and dragged back, a hand closing around his neck.

Riku and Kairi both shouted. "Sora!"

The Keyslinger had no chance to get out of there before Struggler closed his ice-clawed left hand over Sora's face and set his ice-clawed right hand upon his own under the cloak.

The ice shattered around his hands as the world went white.

"To hell with that shiny weapon of his. I knew there was something under that surface..."

Sora hit the ground with a skid, dragging earth across the ground.

"Something with power that _none of you_ could match!"

Struggler held out his hand menacingly, revealing claws like pin tumbler Keys upon them.

"And _look! **At!** **This!**_"

He reached for his hood and drew it back.

Riku. _Screamed._

+x+x+x+

Xion was confused when the ice around Naminé shattered without warning. It shouldn't have been done this easily.

Then Riku skidded into that clearing.

"Riku?" Xion asked. "What-"

The werewolf managed to open his eyes. "Xion, you need to take Naminé and _run_. _**Now.**_"

Xion was confused. "What are you...?"

"Go!" Riku insisted, scrambling to his feet. Soul Eater volted into his hand as he braced it next to the absolutely _horrified_ look on his face. That look worried Xion; the snowgirl knew Naminé was in no condition to run on her own, so she quickly picked up the witch and started out of the clearing.

Then the gate opposite that which the 'twins' had floored _ripped open.__  
_

Xion spun to see a familiar face wearing _her_ cloak. His hair was jet-black at the tips, fading like sunset to a fiery red at his skull. His skin was a necrous kind of pale; not cold pale like Xion's, but too-long-in-the-dark pale, with the same rough surface that Xion had been spending so much time with. His fingers ended with pin tumbler keys for claws, and a fang poked over his lip as he smirked.

His eyes opened - bloodred irises joined to black void pupils with rings of gold.

Xion's scream died halfway out.

"Kurai!" The doppelgänger's taunt was a thousand times darker with the clawslinger's voice. "You showed up with such haste that I never got to set the battlefield for our rematch!" He smirked, taking a reckless stance with fire in his eyes. "No tricks this time, I swear. Just you and me... and a whole. Lot. Of blood."

Naminé started to tremble in Xion's arms. "What's... Sora... Something..."

Xion set the witch down. "It's Struggler. He's taken Sora's form - the _inside_ Sora! The real vampire! There's no way... Riku can..." She winced. "Here, stay here. Don't move, it's going to hurt you. I need to lend Riku a-"

There was a crash as Riku slammed into the fence she had knocked over. With a wince, Xion formed her Keyblade in her left hand and rushed forward, leaping into a flip and swinging it towards the fake clawslinger.

Struggler saw her coming and grabbed her Key by the teeth, lashing out with his other hand. The open-palm strike connected with Xion's stomach, and she screamed as she was sent flying, colliding with one of the posts of the remaning gate. Struggler whirled her Key between Sora's claws before driving it into the forest floor and rushing forward, taking two steps before arcing into a flip and driving the claws of one hand into her leg, and Xion's scream was lost in the rush as he slammed her into the ground.

There were footsteps, and Struggler raised his gaze to see Roxas standing there.

Xion was on the floor.

There was blood on Xion's leg.

There was blood on Sora's claws.

_Sora was wearing Xion's cloak. _

That was all Roxas registered before he gave a wild shout and raised his hand, his eyes lighting up sunset gold - and a sound like a chain shattering emerged as a bolt of pure fire the colour of the stars emerged, flying towards the cloaked clawslinger.

The clawslinger raised his hands to catch the flame.

The connection ripped an explosion that engulfed his figure, and Roxas lowered his hand, glaring towards where Sora had been with a hatred, the fire lingering in the air around the impact point.

Riku's eyes were wide as he looked at Roxas. "You just-"

"I'm sorry, Riku, but I warned him," Roxas stated.

Xion was shocked. "_R-Rokusasu..._"

Roxas turned towards her and opened his mouth to speak.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow..."

The fire vanished from Roxas' eyes as he turned to the fading flames. The clawslinger was standing there, pushed back three metres - and he was holding his left hand in pain, blowing on the burn on his palm. He closed his eyes and gave a few shaky breaths, each slower than the last, before raising his gaze to Roxas.

A brief chuckle passed through his lips. "Aaaahhh," he gasped, raising a finger shakily before pointing it at Roxas, "I knew Rai wasn't going to be enough to take care of you."

Roxas' eyes widened. _That's not Sora._

His pupils shrank. _All Sora gets from an explosion like that is** a burn on his hand!**_

Struggler smirked with the clawslinger's face. "This oughta be fun."

He shot forward threateningly, and Roxas only had time to flinch before Struggler punched him with all the power of a vampire, sending him flying. Xion tried to get to her feet, but Struggler arced into a flip, punching the ground next to her with enough force to knock earth out from underneath her. Riku tried to lash out with Soul Eater, but Struggler grabbed that with one set of claws and pulled it from him, hurling it into the foliage.

Then something hooked over the wrist of that hand, and he spun round as a familiar redhead slammed his wrist between her palms.

Everyone's eyes widened. "_Kairi!?_"

Struggler smirked. "You've got a lot of nerve, Lavalocks," he taunted.

"Okay," Kairi grunted, "the next person who tries to give me a nickname involving my hair and heat is going to be treated to a roundhouse kick between the greaves."

"Fiesty!" Struggler mused, raising a clawed hand over his helm. "Now let's see if you've got the power to back it up!"

He lashed out towards Kairi.

His hand bounced off her helm.

"Ow," she gasped weakly.

The doppelgänger glanced at his hand. His claws were no longer pin tumbler keys - in fact, they were hardly claws so much as they were rapidly retreating fingernails. His hair was fading to brown, and his eyes were starting to drift between bloodred and ocean blue.

"What what _what!?_" he gapsed. "What's happening? _What happened to my power!?_"

Kairi smirked. "The vampire," she mused. "More power than any other monster. Yet they go down if you splash them with a glass worth of water..."

She slipped her palm down, revealing the crown and chain that was looped around his wrist.

"...and they hide away under such a simple seal."

Struggler's eyes widened, and he grit his teeth. "That's it," he murmured. "I'm not going to be defeated by a weakling who can't-!"

"Let's try this again."

Kairi and the fake clawslinger turned to see Roxas holding a handful of fire, and as he hurled it at Struggler, Kairi waited to the last second before leaping away, holding the chain to the doppelgänger's wrist until the moment the fire hit. Struggler screamed, the fire sending him flying into one of the poles for the gate with enough force to bend it.

"I _will not_ lose! Not again!"

He pulled himself out of the smoke, landing on a hand, a knee, and a foot as the vampyric changes lit up across him. "Looks like your seal doesn't last too long, girlie!" he taunted. "The three of you and that witch popsicle don't stand a chance!"

Kairi smirked from her perch against the gate, dangling Sora's rosario off her index finger. "Oh, come on," she protested, whirling the chain in circles. "You're challenging Riku and you can't even count?"

Struggler narrowed his gaze. "Count? What are you-?"

His eyes widened in horror as a clawed hand set itself on his shoulder.

Kairi pulled herself off of the gate, letting the crown arc into the air. "Seals like this don't exactly come a dime a dozen," she taunted as the rosario landed on her little finger. "I thought you said you wanted a mirror match?"

"No..." Struggler found his gaze slowly dragged to the side.

"What's the matter? You look pale."

A pair of bloodred eyes snapped open.

"Hope you didn't see a _doppelgänger_, because... you know..."

A single fang poked over Sora's lower lip as he smirked.

"That means you're gonna _die_."

Struggler spun round in utter horror to see clawslinger Sora standing there, the vampire sneering menacingly.

"Hey, snow fairy," Sora called. "Spot the difference."

The fire vanished from his hair, leaving his helm spiked with jet-black.

Struggler hardly had time to shout before Sora lashed out with an overhead blow that sent him skidding across the ground. He shot forward and arced into a flip, landing a skyward kick to the side that sent him flying. As the doppelgänger started to fall back down, Sora held out his hand, hooking his claws in the shirt under Xion's cloak.

"Drop the fake act and show me what you really look like."

The mimicry gasped, and his face went jet-black for a moment, slowly fading until the spiky-curled sand hair was all that was upon him. Sora let him hit the ground, and Roxas stepped forward. "Hayner?"

Struggler - Hayner - turned to face him. "Didn't want you to recognize me," he murmured. "Sorry, Rox'."

Roxas was surprised. "What were you doing?"

Hayner chuckled weakly. "What do you _think_ I was doing. Kurai said it best - I'm looking for a crowd."

The fire cloak opened his mouth, then closed it again. Then he sighed. "Is this about that incident with-"

"Shut up!" Hayner stated. "I don't need you to remind me!"

Before Roxas could snap back, Sora drove his claws into the back of Hayner's shirt - right through Xion's cloak. "Are we done here?" he threatened, raising him off the ground. "Because I'm still-"

Roxas grabbed Hayner and pulled him out of the cloak, leaving Sora holding Xion's garments. "You're a pain, you know that?" Roxas snapped. "You're just not happy unless you're fighting someone."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Sora taunted.

Roxas opened his mouth, then closed it and opened it again, then just raised a hand in disgrace. "I don't even _know_, okay?" he protested, turning away and stepping towards the others.

Xion stepped forward in awe. "Sora..."

The clawslinger turned towards her with a deadly glare that stopped Xion in her tracks, causing her to cower away.

Kairi stepped forward, spinning Sora's crown on her little finger. "You don't give him enough credit, Roxas," she called, managing to switch the rosario to her ring finger without stopping it from spinning. "He's also quite the snarky little vamp."

Sora chuckled, turning to that. "Are you insulting me?"

"Well, that depends," Kairi replied, switching the rosario to her index finger. "Do you feel insulted?"

"Give me that crown," Sora snapped.

Kairi flipped it towards him, and Sora let it fall onto his hand, clicking it onto the single chain that dangled from his choker. Everyone watched as the vampyric changes across Sora started to fade.

"Happy birthday, snack tray."

+x+x+x+

"_Happy bir~thda~y to you!_"

"Whoo!"

"_Happy bir~thda~y to you!_"

"Whoo!"

Kairi only chuckled as Riku cut the cake, still singing along with everyone. "_Happy bir~thda~y dear_ _Kairi~!__ Happy bir~thda~y to you!_"

Everyone gave another "Whoo!" as Riku started handing out cake pieces. It had been late when everybody had got back to school, the sun starting to set, but that hadn't stopped them from going along with their party. As Kairi received her piece of cake, she prodded the seashell that Roxas had stuck to the side. "What's this shell?" she asked, turning to Roxas.

"It's a thalassa shell," Roxas replied. "They're often made into bracelets as a sign that you'll always find your friends. Don't worry," he added, "it's just an icing design."

Kairi smiled. "Thanks, guys!" she said to everyone. "I'm glad you all went through with this!"

"No problem!" Sora replied. "Hey, Naminé," he added, "you brought the drinks, right?"

"Yep," Naminé replied, getting to her feet. "Cola?"

Sora nodded. "You got it." He elbowed Xion playfully. "Where's my ice, ice, baby?"

Xion nervously got up and made her way to the newly-frozen ice bowl she had left on the poker table. Kairi saw her face and approached her before she could rejoin the crowd.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" the human girl prompted. "You seem kind of... down."

"I just..." Xion glanced at Sora. "Sora kind of... _glared_ at me, earlier," she murmured. "And Hayner got me with his claws while he was in Sora's form. It just kind of..." She winced.

Kairi chuckled, causing Xion to look at her in shock. "Don't laugh at me!" she protested in a whisper. "Have you seen-"

"Xion," Kairi insisted, "I have _slapped_ that vampire. _In_ vampire mode. Yes, I have seen him glare. And you know what? Don't sweat it. Clawslinger and Keyslinger are two different vamps. Claws might be a heartless blood knight and call me snack tray, but that Sora right there - he's flirting with you. And that's all you need to worry about right now."

The snowgirl blinked. "You _slapped_ him?"

Kairi rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Naminé gave me the shock look already. Now come on."

She led Xion back to the table. The witch was already back with the drinks and cups; the moment the ice was on the table, Sora broke off a fair chunk of frost, emptied a cola into his cup, and plopped it in. Naminé passed Kairi a cola as well, and the human girl cracked it with one hand, rubbing her neck for a moment with the other before taking a long drink straight out of the can.

The movement caused Riku to raise his gaze, frosting on his nose. "Oh, right! Everyone find where their presents landed?" In response, everyone raised a differently wrapped box.

"Hey, come on, let me finish my cake!" Kairi protested laughingly. She took a big bite of thalassa shell. "Naminé, you first."

Naminé had got Kairi a pair of sapphire crystal ball earrings. Roxas had matched that up with a rather spiky ruby necklace that Kairi made a mental note not to wear in battle. Xion had got her a pair of heels, and Sora had given her a bright silver bracelet with dangling gold teardrop jewels. Kairi had to ask; "Where did you guys get all this stuff?"

"Preternatural Street," Sora said dismissively. "It's the only shopping place on school grounds. They've got _everything_ there." He finished off his drink. "Hey, Naminé, pass me another cola?"

Naminé, who had hardly started her fruit punch, sighed and tossed him another one. Sora upturned it over his cup before cracking it, letting it fizz out so he could drink it without getting it up his nose.

"Hey, Riku," Roxas prompted, "where's your gift?"

Kairi beat the werewolf to it. Impressive. "Emergency situation. I got his a little early. Wouldn't really have gone with the others anyways."

Sora narrowed his gaze. "So that was you who brought her in with the whole zoom zoom asskicking."

Xion was surprised. "Most bloods aren't that easy to make sessions out of," she mused. "How'd you pull it off?"

"I lent him a hand," Naminé replied. "I charmed it so that it would flow through and then evaporate when it had made its course."

"That explains the anemia," Kairi murmured.

"I thought you looked kind of dizzy," Sora admitted.

"It couldn't have been anything too serious, could it?" Roxas asked.

Riku threw his hands up in the air. "Am I the only one who doesn't get to be part of this conversation?" He raised his cup to his lips and found it empty... just as a splash of root beer landed in his hair.

Even _he_ had to laugh at that one.

* * *

Draco: Aw yeah, I hit 4000! Only just, but I _did_ hit 4000! Hope you all enjoy!


	14. Study!

Draco: Unimaginative title is unimaginative. Sue me. Anyways, I figured I'd drop a bit more fun on Xion here. Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 14: Study!**

One would think that a school for monsters means that most of the classes would make a human student cringe in fear at what the _hell_ they're talking about. The truth is that Yokai Academy gears monsters not only to _fit in_, but also to _succeed_ in the human world. And that means that most of the classes would make a human student cringe - in _recognition_.

Kairi included.

The human girl was never all too behind on studies, but a lot more liked to go on at Yokai Academy than she was used to. Kairi was good at hitting the ground running, but even _she_ had a feeling there was something she was missing every time the stepped into Leon's classroom. Sora was a bit of a slacker - something that Riku constantly liked to taunt him about - yet somehow he managed to plow through with ease. As for the sophomores, Riku was a fast learner, so he never fell back. And even when she was playing the flirt with Roxas, Naminé was just driving through the classes - she told Kairi that she had skipped a year or two in her previous years, otherwise she'd 'probably have been competition before you met the Jenova boys'.

On Heartilly's side of the freshman class, Roxas was doing well. Xion... not so much.

Sora was surprised when Xion caught him alone on his way back to class after lunch hour, a couple weeks after Kairi's birthday. "Sora, I need your help," Xion prompted.

"Did Niju bring in some friends?" Sora accused. "Because I don't need another battle."

"What...?" Xion shoook her head. "No, this has nothing to do with a fight. I need..." She bit her lip nervously, looking around. "I need help with my _studies._"

Sora blinked. "Wait, _what_?"

Xion sighed. "With all the... _hype_ that's been going on with you and Kairi and everyone, I've been slipping behind. And finals are coming up right away. If I don't get some help with this stuff, I'm screwed."

"Why don't you ask Roxas?" Sora prompted.

"No!" Xion reacted instantly. "I can't. He made me promise I wouldn't give him trouble this year. If I go and ask him for help, he's going to call me out on it." She grabbed Sora's hand desperately. "Just do me this one favour, please!"

Sora looked nervous at that. "Xion, I can't, I'm..."

"Don't even try and tell me that _you're_ behind on your classes," Xion interrupted. "I've seen your marks. You and Naminé are damn near top of your classes. And if half of the slacker jokes Riku tells have _any_ justification, you should have plenty of time." She winced. "Please, Sora," she begged. "I need this."

The vampire glanced down for a long moment.

"...Alright," he said finally. "I'll do it."

Xion smiled, giving him a rushing hug that Sora hesitantly returned; then they took off, not wanting to be too late for class.

+x+x+x+

"Sora, you coming?"

Kairi's call caused Sora to spin round. She, Riku, Naminé and Roxas looked like they were ready to head somewhere. "No, sorry, not today," Sora replied. "I've got work to do."

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "Work?"

"Not some secret project," Sora insisted. "Schoolwork."

"Excuse me?" Riku prompted. "You're damn near top of the freshman class and you've got _schoolwork_?"

Sora raised his hands in defense. "Hey, this Mulch comes in fast! I don't want to miss anything, the finals are coming up."

Naminé propped her hands on her hips. "Why are you suddenly so concerned with classes?" she asked.

"Have you forgotten?" Sora replied. "Summer break! You pass the finals, and you've got a whole month to kill time. You fail, and you're in the graveyard they call summer school."

Kairi's eyes widened. "Summer!" she gasped. "I forgot!"

Riku set a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, you've got it in the bag," he insisted. "Sora is a professional slacker - I won't be surprised if he _would_ miss something by skipping this study."

The trio took off, and Sora headed to the freshman dorms. He _did_ have study - but it wasn't for him.

+x+x+x+

Later that day, Xion was making something to eat. Sora had asked her to meet her in his dorm room after the sun had set, and she didn't want to be studying on an empty stomach or she'd end up inviting him out on a dinner date. And while the prospect was tempting, she had asked Sora to help her _study_; he didn't need the distraction.

Although...

Xion slapped herself to focus. She turned back to her food preparation and ended up knocking a knife off the table, causing it to cut down her leg. Xion hissed in pain, reaching down to pick up the knife. The cut was shallow, but it was very long, and it was already bleeding. By reflex, she reached out to quick-freeze the wound and stop the flow.

The snowgirl stopped herself. A mischievous smile rose on her face. _Sora's a vampire_, she reminded herself. _He could use the... incentive._

She went back to making her meal.

+x+x+x+

At the same time, Sora was getting all his work ready to lend Xion a hand when his rosario lit up. Sora noticed it fast, and before the clawslinger could get a jab in, he snapped, "Do you _mind_? I'm trying to get things ready here!"

_Riight. Why exactly did you decide to waste time teaching that snowgirl?_

"Hello, summer."

_Hello, vampire._

Sora facepalmed. "I'm not going to the beach, dumb muscle," he snapped, still setting things up. "I don't tan."

_Shut it. If you spend too much time around her, you're going to get distracted and your marks are going down._

It was then that there was a knock on Sora's door. "It's study," Sora insisted, getting to his feet. "I'm not going to get distracted." He gave the rosario a firm tap right in the gem, shutting off the connection, and opened the door to see the discussed snowgirl standing there, a smile on her face.

"Hi, Xi-"

Sora cut himself off mid-sentence, stepping back. Xion's smile faltered as he grabbed his door for support. "Something wrong?" she asked.

The vampire blinked rapidly. Xion had traded out her blue-trim black cloak with what looked like summer clothes - a soft tank top with a sunset gradient and black shorts lined with silver. Not to mention, Sora could smell something powerful. "Are you... hurt?"

"Huh?" Xion glanced down at her leg, where there was a long line with small trails of blood. "Oh, it's nothing serious. Just a little cut."

"You should... ice that," Sora prompted, turning away and stumbling towards his work area. Xion gave a brief frown while his back was turned, but only stepped after him. He had things set up fairly well - his books from different classes were set up on something that looked like a spaceship command panel, though it stepped down towards the ends. "What kind of classes are you having trouble with?" he asked, turning to face her and sitting down.

Xion sat down in front of him, crossing her legs and deliberately making sure her cut leg was towards him. She wasn't going to just play the helpless, though; she genuinely needed help, and wasting time with the basic just to flirt was academically suicidal. "Math is my biggest problem," she said first. "I swear, the class just... jumped. Half of the formulas don't even make sense."

"This seems familiar," Sora murmured, picking up his math book off his setup - and revealing the surface of a paperback volume. As Xion took a closer look at his arrangement, she realized that it was just made from piled books.

"Woah," she murmured. "You're a pretty heavy reader, huh?" she prompted. Glancing at the revealed cover, she had to stifle a laugh. "_Black Bird_?" she asked, reaching for the manga.

"Shut up!" Sora snapped. "Let's get to work."

Xion sighed, stretching out her legs as she reached back to grab her own books. Sora got a huge whiff of snowgirl blood before Xion retracted, and had to give himself a mental slap in order to get things working again.

+x+x+x+

"Thanks, Sora," Xion prompted. "Same time tommorrow?" she asked.

"Get that cut covered up," Sora insisted. "Then we'll see."

As Xion left, Sora closed the door and leaned back against it. His rosario lit up, and Keyslinger and clawslinger spoke at the same time.

"_She did that on purpose._"

+x+x+x+

Sora bringing up summer break meant that studying was suddenly on everybody's to-do list. Kairi started walking around with her nose in a workbook, Naminé and Roxas had replaced their flirty banter with question-and-answer conversation, and more than once did Riku dash past his turn because he was reading. After having published an issue of Yokai Times concerning Hayner, they had decided to drop the main story concept and just provide summer break tips.

Xion and Sora continued their private study sessions after classes, and with everyone else studying, it wasn't exactly suspicious. Xion had healed up her leg cut, but she started wearing _perfume_, and Sora could have sworn that she taking off her cloak just outside his door so she was always in summer clothes during their study session (he'd yet to find proof, but it was possible). Clawslinger was starting to get annoyed. Keyslinger was just trying to help Xion.

Eventually, on his way back from class, Sora's rosario lit up and _physically_ stopped him in his tracks.

_Okay, that's enough. This is starting to get annoying. That snow fairy is **trying** to seduce you and I'm getting sick of it._

Sora sighed. "So am I," he admitted, "but what the hell am I supposed to do?"

_You could let **me**__ teach the session. **I **wouldn't get distracted by a little bit of perfume._

"How does that work?" Sora prompted. "You can't talk to her unless the rosario's off, and I can't take it off myself. I've tried the Keyblade on this thing, it doesn't work. It's too complex."

_You could piss of Roxas. He'd probably be able to melt through the seal._

"No. _Hell_ no." Sora snapped. "I don't even _want_ to see Roxas mad. You saw him blast Hayner! And he still hates you for that incident with the icebreaking. Not to mention, if he finds out _why_ you pissed him off, that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish."

There was quiet for a long moment.

_...Find Kairi._

+x+x+x+

At the designated time, Xion was making her way to Sora's dorm room for their study session. As she neared the right hall, she slipped out of her cloak and hid it in the corner, leaving her in her summer clothes as she approached his door. There was something strange around Sora's room, but Xion just shrugged it off as anticipation. She had caught up finely with her studies, and she had every intent to make this their last session. This time, she was not only wearing perfume, but also a light touch of makeup, and there was a light prick on the back of either hand, bleeding ever-so-slightly as she knocked on the door.

A sound emerged.

Like someone snapping fingers.

_And claws grating against each other._

The door flung open violently, causing Xion to raise a hand before her. The room was dark as she stepped in, looking around - the place was lit with candles, like some sort of nightmarish ritual. Sora's setup of books had been covered in black cloth, and Sora was sitting there in a meditative stance. And now, Xion knew what that ominousness she had felt was - because Sora had his fingers forming perfect circles.

Giving a perfect display of the pin-tumbler claws that were perched upon them.

And the fire in his dark hair reflected the candles like a jaded mirror.

Xion stepped back. "Sora..."

"Sit down."

The snowgirl swallowed her fear, stepping forward. As soon as she passed the door's arc, it slammed closed, brushing against the back of her hair. Slowly, she sat down in front of Sora, legs crossed.

Sora raised a hand warningly. "Seiza position."

The demand caused Xion to pull away, but she hesitantly took the requested posture. The clawslinger did not react at first - when Xion had remained silent for a full minute, he closed his hands together before arcing around to face her, his bloodred eyes gleaming.

Xion took a deep breath. "Permission to speak?"

A smirk rose on the clawslinger's face. "Granted."

"Why are you taking charge of this session?" Xion asked. "I mean..." She searched around for the right term. "_Outside_ Sora usually managed to get by fairly well."

"If I understand correctly," Sora replied, "you've proceeded far enough in your studies that this should be your last session. I thought I should lend you a hand."

Xion gulped nervously, not breaking the seiza position. "Yes... this being the last should be no problem. But..." She raised her gaze. "Are you even capable?"

Sora's eyes gleamed, and Xion could have sworn the golden rings connecting iris to pupil expanded to blot out the bloodred.

"I mean, you're usually locked away," Xion insisted, realizing how that sounded insulting. "If the crown's on, you're nowhere to be seen. I thought that meant you were... _cut off_ from everything else."

The vampire gave a single slow blink. "When Sora hears, sees, or learns _anything_, **all** of Sora does. Am I understood?"

Xion nodded. "Yes. Of course."

"Good. Now, let us begin."

+x+x+x+

Roxas couldn't get to sleep.

It didn't make any sense - he was mentally exhausted from his solo study. His stomach was full, and his body was not in any need of healing. So why, despite his attempts, couldn't he get himself to shut down? He tried his best, but eventually, as the clock struck midnight, he got to his feet and slung his cloak over his shoulders, not bothering to slip his arms into the sleeves - nobody would be up at this time of night, and he needed to take a walk.

As he stepped out of his room, he let his body wander and found himself stepping out of the dorm building. The moon was dark, and as he stepped out he heard a howl that made him jump. When he realized it was just a wolf, he growled at himself for reacting to it.

Being outside in a dark moon did the trick; Roxas' eyelids were already drooping. He turned around to step inside when another sound caught his ears.

A sob.

Roxas turned around, his gaze drifting from side to side. A presence caught his mind, and he turned to see a familiar figure in bright garments leaning against a petrified tree. A horrifying thought rushed through Roxas' mind, and he stepped forward, just enough to make out the face.

Xion was sitting there, in a sunset tank and short shorts, and she was crying her eyes out.

"_Shi-oh_..." Roxas shot forward, his heels digging into the dirt as he skidded to a stop at Xion's side. The snowgirl hardly noticed; she had her face buried in the cloak in her hands, and her voice sounded broken. "_Shi-oh_... what happened?"

When Xion didn't respond, Roxas gently reached out, pulling the cloak away from her face. Xion's gaze rose weakly, her eyes flickering. "_Rokusasu_..." she gasped.

Roxas was horrified. Xion looked like she had dressed up for something - she seemed to be wearing perfume, and there were was a light dusting of makeup across her face, streaked from crying. Her eyes were red, and Roxas knew she had been out here for a while.

"_Shi-oh, _are you alright?" Roxas asked. "What happened? Were you attacked?"

Xion shook her head weakly. "I... He... I..." She took a shuddering breath, and Roxas set a hand on either of her shoulders.

"_What happened?_" Roxas demanded.

The snowgirl sobbed weakly, trying to speak.

"S... S-S-So... Sora..."

Then she broke down, and Roxas only pulled her close, holding her in embrace and letting her cry to her heart's content - all the while glaring across the skies to within the dorms, where he knew the vampire waited.

+x+x+x+

When Xion had finished, the clawslinger continued to meditate. With the Keyslinger always keeping busy, it was nice to have things slow down for a while. He wasn't so foolish as to waste the night like stone, however - leaving himself out for too long would damage the rosario's seal. However, just as he got to his feet and reached for the crown, there was a fierce knocking on his door.

Sora sighed. "Don't tell me that snow fairy was advertising," he growled, pulling his hand away from the chain loop and starting towards the door.

The knock sounded again, this time almost damaging.

"Hey, watch it!" Sora snapped. "Who's there?" When he didn't get an answer, he stepped up to the door and pulled it open.

And an inferno hit him smack-dab in the stomach.

Sora was sent flying, tumbling across the room and crashing upon the piles of books. When he got to his feet, he made out Roxas standing there, his eyes blazing with fiery gold, and there was something necrous on his face that told Sora he wasn't just here to chat.

"What. Did. You. Do. To. _Shi-oh_."

The clawslinger chuckled. "Watch the blazes, flamechain," he snarked. "This place is flammable and we don't want to get expelled for setting the world on fire.

"I'm not going to ask you again," Roxas spat. "Answer my question."

Sora narrowed his gaze. "It's really not that hard," he stated. "She came in here expecting one Key, and she found herself meeting another."

Roxas' corneas started to tint gold. "Why did she come here?"

"If you think there's something going on, between me, and your snow-fairy girlfriend, _cut it out_," Sora snapped. "I'm a _Nosferatu_, Asura damn it. I'm only here for the blood. And that girl _reeks_ like some kind of monstrel got bit by a Kyonshi and _decided to let it run. Like. Sleipnir_."

There was a gleam of fire from Roxas' eyes as his right hand shot forward.

Sora only surged his left hand against it, digging his claws into Roxas' fingers, not even touching him elsewise. A menacing grin plastered itself on the clawslinger's face as he saw Roxas' trying to struggle against him.

"So _don't push your luck_."

He released Roxas' hand, as though warning him. Roxas growled like some kind of canine.

"Then _stay away from her_."

Roxas turned away, and Sora saw his hair sparking as he made his way down the hall.

+x+x+x+

Sora woke up the next morning feeling a lot drowsier than he usually did. He reached out to check the time and found it to be an hour before his alarm was supposed to go off.

He winced, rubbing his temples. _What happened last night?_ Normally, the clawslinger's memories were easy to access, if slightly faded when he did. But there was a huge gaping _hole _in his memories where the previous night's study session with Xion should have been. Weakly, he got to his feet.

He was not going back to sleep any time soon. He might as well hit Preternatural Street and kill time.

+x+x+x+

On her way to the morning's class, Kairi was surprised to see Xion stumbling down the halls. Her eyes were puffy and red, and her body seemed weak. As she neared the human girl, Xion ended up slipping, and Kairi was quick to catch her before she hit the ground.

"Xion?" Kairi asked. "What happened?"

"I-I'm fine," Xion murmured, struggling to stand.

Kairi shook her head. "Don't give me that crap, Xion," she stated. "What happened to you?"

Xion glared. "I'm _fine_, alright?" she insisted. "I was up late studying. Leave me alone." The snowgirl pulled herself out of Kairi's grip and started away.

Kairi closed her eyes. "If you're fine, then why have you been crying?"

She received no response.

+x+x+x+

Sora was dashing back from Preternatural Street as full-throttle, trying to not be late for class. As he neared the doors, he caught sight of a familiar figure in a black cloak trimmed with blue. Breaking into a skid - and not losing his momentum very quickly - he called, "Xion?"

This was the frightening part; Xion _recoiled_ at Sora's voice. The vampire blinked in shock as she started into the school, as though trying to get away from him. "Wait, Xion!" Sora called, starting after her.

He managed to catch up with her just outside Professor Heartilly's classroom, grabbing her arm. "Xion, what's wrong?"

"Leave me alone, Sora," Xion pleaded. "I get it, alright?"

"Get _what_?" Sora prompted, confused.

Xion grit her teeth. "Stop toying with me," she insisted. "Just leave me." She started inside.

"Wait, Xi-"

"_I said leave me alone!_" Xion snapped.

Sora went still as she took off into the room.

+x+x+x+

Class was an absolute _drag_. Sora just _couldn't focus_ - although that didn't stop him from giving the assignment a piledriver - his mind was on Xion. Something had happened last night while the clawslinger was out. Something in that hole in his memory. But even as he made it through the morning classes, and started out towards the forest for lunch hour, he couldn't figure out what.

"You don't learn, do you."

The voice caused the vampire to spin to see Roxas standing there with his hands dug into the pockets of his cloak. "I told you already - _stay away from her_."

Sora blinked. "Um, you told me to not hurt her or the nurses would ask where the volcano was. You never said anything about-"

"Quit playing fool with me, Kingdom," Roxas spat. "You back off before I melt through that seal and make the clawslinger cry about it."

"What are you talking about?" Sora demanded. "What's go-"

There was a surge of dark lightning - and Sora found a big black spike pointed at his eyes before he yelped and leapt away.

Roxas was standing there with a Keyblade in his hand. The thing was black as night, a single long, deadly shaft. There was a gap in the middle of that shaft, across which a black-gold chain that dug into either end. A single cobalt diamond was studded into the hilt, and there was a big black spike at the teeth that formed kanji.

_Yami._

Darkness.

A chain coursed from the end of the handle, ending with a single gold link.

And there were leathered demon wings forming a guard around his hands.

"I'm only going to say this _once_," Roxas spat. "Touch her again and you're _finished_."

Then he turned away, and when he was gone Sora grabbed his crown and raised it before him.

"**_What the hell did you do?!_**"

+x+x+x+

Kairi found Sora lingering in the graveyard after class, looking a strange combination of furious and depressed. The vampire reacted to Kairi's presence, turning to face her. "Hey," he called absently.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

Sora rubbed his forehead. "Last night was a bit... confusing," he admitted. "I woke up and my room was in candlelight."

"Does this have something to do with the clawslinger?" Kairi asked. Sora's request to have her remove his rosario the previous night had caught her off-guard, and she wasn't sure why she had wanted him to do so.

"I just... maybe," Sora admitted. "I can't remember anything from last night. I can usually get at what the clawslinger's doing, but... there's a huge hole in my memories."

Kairi narrowed her gaze. "Did he tell you _what_ he had planned?" she asked. "Or what he did, after the fact?"

Sora shook his head. "That's the thing. He hasn't spoken to me all day. Even when I _tried_."

The observation caused Kairi to perch a hand on her chin, driving her elbow into her opposite palm. Then she knelt down and picked up what she recognized as a flower with some very sharp thorns, holding it by the bloom. Sora watched in curiosity as she carefully set the plant onto her palm.

Kairi took a deep breath... and closed her hand into a fist, letting the thorns dig into her skin.

Sora was worried. "Kairi!" he exclaimed.

As he stepped towards her, Kairi pulled the flower away from her hand and held the bloodied palm up to his face. Sora recoiled at the scent, stumbling back, and Kairi focused on his rosario as he stood there. Sora understood what she was trying to do and took a deep breath, inhaling heavily.

"...Nothing," Sora murmured after a while.

Kairi cursed, dropping the flower. "He's hiding something," she murmured. "If he won't even react to the scent of my blood, he has to be _hiding_ **something.**" A moment of silence passed; then she turned to Sora.

"I saw Xion earlier," she stated. "She looked like she'd been crying about something. Do you think... the clawslinger had something to do about that?"

"I do," Sora admitted. In fact, he knew with a dreadful certainty that _something_ the clawslinger had done had caused Xion to act this way. "I'm going to see if I can talk to her later. Maybe she knows."

+x+x+x+

A sound caused Xion to look up from her work in a shock. Someone was knocking on the door, lightly.

"Xion?"

The snowgirl recognized the voice and just turned back to her homework. There was quiet for a long moment; then the knocking emerged again, slightly firmer this time.

"Xion?"

She sighed irritably, trying to focus on her work. a/sinA = b/sinB = c/sinC = 2R, cosA = b^2 + c^2 - a^2 over- Her thoughts were cut off by a third knock on her door.

"Xion?"

"_What do you_ **_want_**_, Sora?_" she snapped, whirling around. "I _get_ it, alright? _Leave me alone_, damn it!"_  
_

Sora pulled away from the door like it had burned him. "Wha...? Xion, what are you talking about?"_  
_

"Don't give me that crap, Sora!" Xion spat. "You said it plain and clear last night. If you're just going to _snap_ at me like that, then Leviath damn it, _bitch off!_"

Xion didn't hear Sora again.

+x+x+x+

"Well?"

Sora shook his head as he passed Kairi outside the dorms. He didn't say anything; he just kept walking.

Kairi followed him with her gaze. "What, I don't even get a briefing?" When Sora didn't respond, she chased after him. "Hey, where are you going?"

"Preternatural Street," Sora replied. "I saw a couple food joints open this morning and I need something to eat."

+x+x+x+

By Kairi's request, Sora showed her to Preternatural Street. It was always quite busy, and Kairi was surprised to see it. "So many stores," she mused.

"I knew I was going to regret this," Sora joked. "Bringing a girl to the shopping district - that's _asking_ for trouble."

"Oh, shut up," Kairi jabbed. "So, where's the restaurants?"

They found a smoothie joint and chose a table by the corner, both of them with chocolate milkshakes. "So what happened with Xion just now?" Kairi asked. "Did she try to attack you, or threaten you, or something?"

Sora shook her head. "She just... she didn't even open her door," he murmured. "I knocked on her door and she started screaming at me."

Kairi fell quiet. "Do you have _any_ idea what the clawslinger might have done?" she asked. "Or even what was going on when he did?"

The vampire glanced around the room, out the storefront, and even down at his crown before speaking. "Promise me that you won't breathe a _word_ of this to Roxas or Naminé," he insisted.

"I won't," she insisted. When Sora narrowed his gaze, concerned, she hastily added, "tell them, I mean. I won't say a word."

Sora sighed and took a long draught from his milkshake.

"Xion was having trouble with her classes. She was falling behind because of what had been going on recently. She couldn't keep up like we could. So she asked me to lend her a hand with her studies. She had promised Roxas that she wouldn't cause him trouble, so asking him for help was out of the question. And my marks were basically a neon sign that read 'private sessions open if I happen to be flirting with you'."

It was Kairi's turn to narrow her gaze. "Do not bring that up," she murmured. "Claws was giving Xion the ice stare during the event with Hayner."

"Right, sorry," Sora insisted. "Anyways, I invited her to come study at night. He -" and here he tapped the rosario's gem on his crown "- got annoyed with me and insisted I was going to get distracted. When Xion came in, she was dressed for the beach and had a cut across her leg. And though I doubt she cut herself on purpose, not putting ice over it was definitely a conscious choice. We both agreed on that."

"You and Xion?" Kairi asked, pulling her lips off her straw. "Or, you and you?"

"Me and me," Sora replied. "After that first time, we kept studying. I knew it wasn't just an... _effort_, because she was honestly having trouble when I pre-tested her for whatever she said she was having trouble with. But she kept dressing for the beach, and she started wearing perfume. I think she even had a touch of eyeliner the last couple times."

Kairi drummed her fingers on the table. "So, when you came and asked me to take off your rosario..."

"_Dark me_ was getting sick of it. He said I needed to put an end to it and volunteered to teach the class. I can't take the crown off myself, and the Keyblade won't even scratch the seal. I got you to take it off..." He winced. "The earliest thing I can remember after that is waking up this morning with a whole bunch of burnt-out candles littered around my room and my study stand knocked over and covered in black cloth."

"Study stand?" Kairi asked.

Sora waved his hand dismissively. "Just a bunch of novels that I had piled up to set my schoolbooks on for easy access."

Kairi raised an eyebrow.

"...And a... couple volumes of _Black Bird_," Sora admitted.

A light giggle passed through Kairi's lips for a brief moment. "So... you think claws did something during the study session?"

"I can't imagine him doing anything... _offensive_ to Xion," the vampire admitted. "And he's hardly the kind of guy who's going to set her up for... _that_ kind of fall."

Kairi sighed. "I'm going to ask her myself," she prompted, getting to her feet.

Sora raised an eyebrow. "I don't think she's going to be much more eager to speak with you than me," Sora mused.

"There's no harm in trying," Kairi insisted, reaching into her pockets as she neared the counter. As Sora watched, she ordered an orange smoothie and another milkshake before taking off.

+x+x+x+

Xion closed her books and kicked them away. They slid across the ice surface she had laid down on her floor and came to a stop under her bed as she set a hand on her forehead. She was fairly certain she had everything, but she wouldn't know until the exams were upon her.

A knock on her door emerged - but it was a clattering knock that sounded kind of awkward. "Xion, are you in there?"

The snowgirl turned. "Kairi?" she asked. A spike of ice shot up near the door and clicked the lock open before she called, "Come in."

An awkward fumbling with the doorknob. "Um... could you get that for me?"

A sigh passed through Xion's lips as she got the ice to propel her to her feet quickly. She slid towards the door and pulled it open, revealing Kairi standing there with a chocolate milkshake in one hand and an orange smoothie in the other.

The moment Kairi got a feel for the air in Xion's room, she shuddered. "Can I come in?" she prompted. "I think my milkshake's starting to melt."

"Um... sure?" Xion prompted, opening the door further. Kairi handed her the smoothie and stepped inside as Xion closed the door. "Why'd you get me this?"

"You seemed kind of down," Kairi replied. "I was at Sweet Fang and I remembered you were having orange soda at the party. Sweet drinks always cheer me up pretty quick. Give it a try."

Xion gave the drink a sip. "Thanks," the snowgirl prompted. She tapped her fingers against the cup, causing the drink to crystallize. "But I'm more a slushie kind of gal."

Kairi laughed at that, and Xion couldn't help but join in; but they fell quiet before too long.

"So, has something happened lately?" Kairi prompted.

"I... I really don't want to talk about it, Kairi," Xion insisted, turning back to her books.

"Does it has something to do with Sora?"

Xion whirled around at that. "What-? How did you...?"

"You shouting at him earlier was pretty loud," Kairi admitted. "I couldn't make out everything, but I heard you curse Leviath."

"Oh..." Xion hung her head. "Yeah... Sorry about that."

Kairi sighed. "I heard about your study sessions with Sora," she added.

Xion looked up at her. "He told you when he got you to take off his rosario, didn't he?"

"Yeah." Kairi could let that slip. Xion probably wouldn't be too happy to hear they had been hanging out just now. "Did the clawslinger... _do_ anything to you?"

"I..." Xion sighed. "Okay, I'll admit it, I've been... going kind of overboard during our studies. I just..."

Kairi took a slow breath and let it out. "You were trying to speed up the process."

"You... you might say that," Xion murmured.

The human girl set her hand on Xion's shoulder. "What happened?"

Xion turned to her nervously. "He... when I showed up, everything looked like some kind of meditative ritual. He made me sit in seiza for ten minutes before he'd even turn to face me. At first, he didn't do anything much different than _outside_ Sora did, aside from everything being really formal. But then..."

"...Then what?" Kairi prompted.

"I messed up, Kairi," Xion stated. "I tried to kind of... break through his shell, see if I could get him to treat me... _normally_. He reacted. He lashed out at me. He told me to leave him alone. All of him. He called..." She winced.

Kairi blinked. "What did he call you?"

+x+x+x+

Sora was waiting outside the freshman dorms for Kairi to get back. Simply that she had been gone for so long was enough of a sign that she had got through to Xion, but Sora was hoping that things would clear up quickly. He didn't want-

The sound of the air burning caused Sora to spin round, raising his hands before him as a bolt of fire drove into them.

The Keyslinger was sent flying, skidding across the ground on his back before he managed to arc into a roll and land on his feet. Roxas was standing there with a hand full of fire, and his eyes were blazing gold.

"I thought I told you to stay away from her."

Sora got to his feet, calling his Keyblade to hand. "You know, I'm a freshman, too," he snapped. "I'm allowed to hang around the freshman dorms."

"Don't play dumb with me!" Roxas snapped. His own black Keyblade flared into his hand with a necrous voltage. "I know you were talking to her earlier. I could feel it. What, you haven't caused her enough grief?!"

"I told you, I don't know what you're talking about!" Sora insisted.

"_Enough of that shit, Sora!_" Roxas spat. "If you're not going to leave her alone..."

Flames began to blaze at the edges of his cloak.

"Then _face **me!**_"

Sora grit his fangs together, bracing his Keyblade in hand as the fire began to rise, arcing across the fabric of his cloak. Wherever it passed, Roxas' figure became enveloped in a kind of infernous glow, silhouetting his body wherever it passed, and as the fire neared the necrous Key in his hand, it began to light up like a blizzard in a forest fire. By the time it had crossed the windswept spikes of his hairstyle, Roxas's form was no longer recognizable; he looked like some kind of blazing god.

Then Sora saw him fall forward.

The moment he hit the ground, the flames exploded, engulfing Roxas in a fireball and sending a shockwave of fire coursing across the earth that melted the soles of Sora's shoes on contact. Sora yelped and kicked the footwear off as the figure raised its helm, and a bolt of icy darkness coursed from his facial area, forming the necrous Keyblade as the flames parted.

On the other end of the school grounds, Kadaj Jenova raised his gaze in fear. What in the world was Sora screaming about?

His answer: a fox _carved from fire with three tails._

And_ a mane of the same signature style of _**Roxas' hair!**

_**Bite-Sized Monster Encyclopedia: Yoko  
**The Japanese 'spirit fox', a messenger between the gods and humans. By lashing its nine tails, it whips up a 'fox fire' that can burn any being to ashes._

"Ramuh six feet under!" Sora exclaimed. "You're a _kitsune__?_"

The eyes of the blazing canine lit up like a frozen light. Roxas shot forward, swinging his Key towards Sora, who raised his own to tech it. The dark weapon collided with Sora's steel, causing a combustion that sent Sora skidding back. His bare feet drove into the ground as he struggled to rise, Roxas' eyes shining like hell.

**Guess you weren't paying attention in those human schools you took before.** Roxas' voice sounded like it was coming from behind Sora and driving into his mind from there. **No fool worth the dirt on his own shoes calls a male yoko a 'kitsune'.** His fox lips arced into a smirk. **Now fall... knowing you died newly learned.**

He shot forward, his tails lashing towards Sora. The vampire whirled his Key in hand to deflect the ranged strikes and leapt over Roxas' dark weapon, using the heat that the yoko was giving off to stay in the air long enough to lash down with a falling blow. Roxas leapt away, hurling his Keyblade at Sora like a kunai; Sora's response was to lash his out like a shuriken, causing the two weapons to clatter to the ground.

_I can't count on the clawslinger for help_, Sora thought as he called his silver Key back to hand. _If Roxas is going to protect Xion, I need to prove myself as **me**. And that means taking him down!_

He shot forward, his Key outstretched as Roxas' reappeared in his maw. The rushing blow was fast enough that it sent Roxas tumbling back and still kept Sora ahead of him; and as he whirled around he leapt further away before taking off in a second rush. Roxas lashed out his Key, catching the blow against the shaft. The heat around him started to increase, and Sora leapt away, rolling on the ground as the yoko barreled towards him. He hurled his weapon forward again, but Roxas only beat it away with his own before leaping like some kind of feral beast, the Key falling from his maw.

In a flash instinct, Sora crossed his arms before him and grabbed Roxas by the forepaws.

The yoko found himself suspended in air as he struggled against Sora. A shape around Roxas' left foreleg caught the corner of Sora's vision, but the vampire only focused on Roxas himself, forcing him back. Heat started to rise around the spirit fox, causing Sora to start shouting, and he arced to the side and hurled Roxas onto the ground, causing him to slide across the earth and arc into a circle. The yoko drove his hind paws into the earth and arced upright, the dark Keyblade whirling between his jaws as he shot forward again, striking out.

And a blur of red hair shot between vampire and yoko to catch the blow.

Kairi screamed as the Keyblade cut into her right arm raised before her, but somehow she managed to keep it raised, skidding backwards as Roxas forced against her. She raised her left arm against it, forming a twofold barrier, but Roxas only continued to apply pressure - if he realized who he was fighting, it clearly didn't matter to him.

Then Kairi pulled back and kicked him in the side of the jaw.

The blow wasn't strong, but it _was_ unexpected; Roxas tumbled to the side, his Key digging into the ground most unpleasantly as Kairi hit the ground, tears streaming from her eyes in pain. The blood flowing from her wounds quick-froze, and Sora turned to see Xion rushing towards her. With a worried fear in his eyes, the vampire stepped back as Xion knelt next to Kairi. Roxas managed to get to his feet, turning to Xion worriedly and taking a single step forward.

Xion heard his paw hit the ground and turned towards him. "Stay where you are!" she shouted, causing Roxas to shy away. His tails lowered as Xion looked over Kairi's wounds. Kairi shook her head, getting to her feet as she stepped towards Sora, ice still coursed across her right arm.

"Put the Keyblade down," the human girl managed to grind out.

Sora raised one hand and used the other to set down his silver Key before raising it to meet the first.

Kairi reached forward with her left hand and pulled off the rosario. Roxas swore loudly - and the way a yoko speaks is _loud_ - as the energy flared up around Sora, shifting him to the vampire that snowgirl and yoko had seen last only just the previous night.

When the flare faded, the clawslinger opened his eyes to Kairi.

Who then proceeded to _slap_ him.

Roxas gave a canine yelp as Sora stepped back to steady himself. He turned towards Kairi and glared, raising his left hand with fingers straight before lashing down towards Kairi.

The human girl caught the strike in her right hand - _the one that was wounded._

Then she slapped him _again_.

Sora stumbled back again, his hand pulling out of Kairi's grasp. When he turned to face Kairi again, there was a look of horror on his face, and he took several worried steps backwards, not even caring that he was getting closer to Roxas as he did so. "That... I... you... that just _happened,_" he gasped. "How did that _just _**happen**?"

Kairi didn't even flinch. "I'm only going to say this once, _claws_," she snapped. "You are to _never_ do that again."

"Do what?" the clawslinger asked.

Then he hit the ground after Kairi slapped him a third time.

"I don't have time for this," she spat as the vampire started to rise. "You and I both know full well what you did. And you and I both know full well _why_ you did it. And I am absolutely _sick_ of it."

Sora hesitated a moment, and his gaze flashed to Xion before returning to Kairi. "Is this because of last night?" he prompted. "Because she full well had it-"

Kairi raised her hand again, and Sora gave a shout of horror, raising his hands before him defensively.

Roxas' maw dropped.

The human girl reached forward with her right hand so that the rosario loop wouldn't connect with the single chain as she dragged Sora forward. "I don't care that you don't like Xion," she said menacingly. "Yeah, you and the Keyslinger are two different vamps. That means you two have to _respect each others' tastes. _If he's flirting with her, _don't get in the way._ And if you call her..." She scoffed, her gaze falling to the ground. "I can't even _say_ that." Returning her gaze to Sora, she continued, "If you ever call her _that_ again, I will personally drag you out from under that seal and suck _your_ blood until you can't even _think_. Am I understood?"

Sora gulped. "Understood."

Kairi shoved him away, causing Sora to tumble back. He gulped and held out his hand. When Kairi glared, he nervously beckoned to her left hand. The human girl glanced down to see the rosario dangling from her hand and tossed it at him. Sora accepted it and weakly turned towards Xion, keeping his head low ashamedly.

"I'm sorry, sn-"

He cut himself off, took a heavy breath, and restarted.

"I'm sorry... Xion."

The snowgirl rapidly blinked in surprise as Sora raised the crown to his neck, clipping on the seal.

Kairi watched as the Keyslinger returned; then she faced Roxas. "Were you going to turn down the cinematics?" she called. "Because finals are tomorrow, and I'm pretty sure the bodily transformations were prohibited during school activities."

Roxas glanced down at himself and realized he was still a flaming spirit fox. Nervously, he covered his left foreleg with his right as the flames started to close around him; when they faded, Roxas was there, cloaked again, at a kneel. He got to his feet and turned away, taking off with a sudden fear.

The human girl raised an eyebrow. "What?"

+x+x+x+

The next day were the final exams. Sora took the seat furthest away from Kairi - clearly, the clawslinger's memory trick had been disabled. Roxas took the next furthest seat, while Xion was somewhere in between. There was a serious tension in the air between them, and when they were done the four simply sat there idly.

After exams, they met up with Riku and Naminé, who seemed excited. Roxas had told Naminé about Kairi calling the clawslinger out, so one can imagine that Kairi's worried look about the exams seemed rather trivial. "How'd it go?" Riku asked.

"I _think_ it went pretty well," Kairi murmured, "but... I can't be sure. I just hope I didn't mess up too badly."

Roxas scratched the back of his head. "Pretty easy for me. You guys?"

"Same here," Riku admitted.

"In the bag,'" Naminé replied. "Sora?"

"Piece of cake," he countered. "Xion?"

Xion smiled lightly at him. "I think it went well," she replied. "We'll have to see."

+x+x+x+

When the results were shown, it was safe to say that everyone felt proud of themselves - and instantly, they started making plans for the summer.

* * *

Draco: Which page, which page... Volume 3, Chapter 12, here it is! For my fellow Canadians and our American cousins, here's a little heads-up on the whole summer scenario. _*Like the Japanese school year, the monster school year starts in April._ Basically what that means is that at Yokai, they get summer in the middle of the year, not between years.

Do I have evil planned for summer? Of course I do! I am Alpha-damned _Draconai Auracto_.


	15. Garnet Roses Upon Emerald Hills

Draco: Sorry I'm late. Little bit of tech troubles. Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 15: Garnet Roses Upon Emerald Hills**

Summer break. Yeah, it might not _seem_ much like summer - Yokai Academy was in a perpetual still-weather fall. But that didn't change the fact that it _was_ summer.

Well, Kairi had to take everyone's word for it. Maybe a monster could pick up the changes.

She was perched on a low branch of the tree near the bus stop, her bag dangling over the tip, waiting for the others to show up. Kairi was starting to wonder if they had all forgotten when the edge of the branch froze. She turned towards the school to see Naminé and Xion walking towards them, bags over their shoulders. Naminé had her notebook under her arm, and Xion had what looked like an icy katana in her hand.

Kairi chuckled. "What's with the blade?" she called, dropping from the tree.

Xion shrugged, letting it melt. "I ran into Yuffie Kisaragi on my way here," she replied. "I told her a ninja needs a blade. She drew a shuriken the size of a frisbee."

"Yeah," Kairi sighed, "that's Yuffie for you."

Naminé sighed. "Can't believe Leon managed to set this up."

Kairi nodded. "Where's the guys?"

"Off to wake Sora up," the two said simultaneously.

+x+x+x+

_The previous day_...

"Who's up for some summer fun?"

Sora, Kairi, Naminé, Roxas, Xion, and Riku all turned to see Leon with a human-world newspaper in his hands. "Excuse me?" Kairi prompted. "What was that about summer fun?"

Leon folded his paper. "You guys want to just sit in Yokai and struggle to find another story?" he prompted. "Yokai Times is the only school newspaper, and the student body isn't expecting some lame story about what goes on around here. This is summer break. This is the news club. We need to do some investigative reporting.

"So, who's ready to do it in the human world?"

The six of them exchanged glances, turned back to Leon, and shouted, "The _human world?_"

"Why not?" Leon prompted. "Those fools have got plenty of stuff to write about."

Kairi bit her tongue. Her heart was pounding.

Riku raised a hand. "Um, Professor Leonheart, students aren't allowed to go into the human world until they _graduate_."

Leon shook his head. "Students aren't allowed to go into the human world _on their own_ until they graduate. Any teacher is free to authorize a group of students for a trip." A smirk rose on his face. "What's wrong, Kurai, are you scared? If anything goes awry, I'll gladly bring us back. No harm, no foul."

"That's got absolutely nothing to do with it," Riku muttered.

Roxas and Xion exchanged glances behind everyone else, a wordless understanding passing between them.

+x+x+x+

"Worried?" Naminé prompted.

"Little bit," Kairi admitted.

Xion leaned forward. "Is there anything you have... _planned_ for the trip?" she taunted.

Kairi's face ignited. "Shut up," she murmured.

"Roxas Kaigara get your-" The loud shout was interrupted by a sound like three lexicons slamming into the back of someone's head before continuing, "-to the meeting point!"

The girls turned to see Riku, Sora, and Roxas approaching them. All three of them were packed for the trip; Sora, in addition to clothing and supplies, had a huge bag with _COLES_ emblazoned across the side and seemed to be trying to slow its momentum. Roxas was rubbing the back of his head, and Riku had Soul Eater over his shoulder like he'd have to draw it sooner or later.

"I'm going, I'm going!" Roxas insisted. "Just stop swinging that thing before I burn it!"

"Do that and I will land you in the water if I have to _drag_ you," Sora threatened. "Am I understood?"

Kairi winced. "Those two are quarreling like Magus Sisters," she murmured.

Naminé turned. "Think you can go slap some sense into them?"

"Don't even joke about that," Xion pleaded. "That was _scary_."

As the guys neared them, Roxas looked around. "Where's Professor Leonheart?" he mused.

Like the devil had heard his name, from the tunnel nearby emerged the Yokai bus, skidding to a stop nearby. The door flew open, revealing Leon leaning against the windshield with his arms crossed.

"Hello," he mused. "Come on in." He pulled himself off the windshield and headed to the back of the bus. The others stepped in after them, Kairi at the back of the line, her mind racing.

_You'll be fine,_ she told herself. _This is just a class trip. You know the human world. There's nothing to worry about._

"Thoughts like that will only bring you trouble."

Kairi froze in place.

"You were attacked by the Jenova family. Challenged by Slasher Kishi. Force to rescue friends from a doppelgänger. If you try to tell yourself there is nothing to worry about..."

The human girl looked over her shoulder to see the bus driver watching her over his, his golden eyes gleaming past the veil of his silver hair.

"Then I assure you, you will be worried before half of this trip is over."

_Frozen Ifrit, it's the bus driver that brought me here!_ Kairi realized.

She turned away hastily and sat down next to Sora, who happened to be alone. Kairi remained silent as the bus driver accelerated, taking the bus into the darkness of the tunnel.

The only lights when they had entered were those within the vehicle, and even then, they cast no glow outside. The appearance was thoroughly frightening, and after a moment Roxas, one row back, called out, "What is this thing?"

"This passage is known as the 'Tunnel of the Fourth Dimension'. It is the only way in or out of Yokai Academy. There are countless openings spread about the human world, bringing monsters into tunnels like they had just emerged from nowhere. If ever you have felt a chill down your spine as you have passed through a tunnel, like Shiva herself set a hand upon your neck, then more likely than not, that tunnel held passage to Yokai Academy."

Kairi glanced around at the impenetrable darkness around them.

"Take your chance to say farewell to the world of monsters..."

A light appeared in the distance.

"...and hello..."

As they broke the arch, everyone felt blinded by the sudden light.

"...to the world of humans."

When Kairi could see again, it was a horrifically wonderful sense of familiarity that washed over her. It was not a city she recognized, but she did recognize all the names of the stores, all the logos and products lining the front windows. Tears started to well in her eyes, and she winced weakly as Sora turned to her. "Kairi?" he prompted. "Are you alright?"

"I'm back," she gasped. She raised her gaze, a smile on her face. "I'm _back home!_"

A soft smile rose on Sora's face, and she pulled her close with one arm. Xion, sitting next to Roxas, saw the motion and turned away... only to turn back when she heard Kairi chuckling.

Sora pulled away. "What are you laughing about?"

In response, Kairi raised a hand.

In that hand was a book.

On the cover of that book was a girl.

Above the face of that girl was the caption _Chibi Vampire._

Xion's jaw hit the floor.

"Give that back!" Sora protested, grabbing for the manga.

Kairi pulled away, holding the manga out of reach. "Ah, ah, ah," she warned. "Xion, catch!"

She tossed the volume towards the snow fairy, who caught it out of the air and looked at it incredulously. Sora turned to face her and scrambled to reach her from his seat, giving Kairi ample opportunity to look into Sora's bag and reach in. Sora noticed a second too late that she had another manga in either hand.

"_Chibi Vampire_, _Black Bird_, _Soul Eater_ - Sora Kingdom, you're a freaking _otaku_!"

"Shut up!" Sora protested, scrambling for the manga she had grabbed. Kairi tossed one to Roxas and the other to Naminé, but Sora only did his best to stop her from getting at any of the others. The vampire could only wince as Roxas looked at the cover of the _Black Bird_ volume and opened it up.

Then the bus skidded to a stop, and Roxas' nose slammed into the seat in front of him.

Riku got to his feet and rushed forward, snatching the manga from his friends and handing them to Sora. The vampire embarassedly shoved them into his bag as he got to his feet, Kairi chuckling as she followed suit. Roxas managed to get to his feet looking like Karin - blood flowing from his nose and dripping onto black garments, hands pressed against it to stop the flow from damaging anything.

The group stepped outside and found themselves looking at a massive field. Wild roses were scattered across the shining jade plain, and the earth arced around, forming rippling waves of emerald and garnet before them.

Sora took a deep breath. "This is just..."

"Beautiful..." Kairi finished.

Leon stepped out and seemed confused. "I don't think... this isn't our trip," he said, turning to the driver that was stepping out of the bus for himself. "We were supposed to arrive at Castle Baron Hotel before we started on the journey."

"Do not get me wrong; we will proceed to our intended destination shortly. I simply believed you would all appreciate this area. Wild Rose Valley has become a great tourist attraction recently."

Riku turned towards him. "Let me guess," he mused. "The roses?"

The driver shook his head.

Naminé took a shot. "The view?"

Another shake.

Roxas gave it a try. "Camping? Sports play? Filming horror movies?"

"That third one was close."

Xion spun round. "Horror movies?" she asked. "How...?"

"They say that Wild Rose Valley... is home to an outlaw."

Sora and Kairi spun round like they had heard Kadaj Jenova draw his blade. "_What?!_" The bus driver's turned around, his silver hair drifting around him as he stepped back towards the bus.

"Let us go. If we want to get a room at Castle Baron Hotel, we shouldn't be late."

+x+x+x+

The bus ride was quiet, interrupted only once - by the lion's roar of Professor Leonheart's cell phone. Leon had returned to his seat at the back and was in the middle of a conversation when the group arrived at Castle Baron Hotel. He got to his feet and ended his call after awkwardly murmuring something into the mic, then led the Yokai students into the place.

When they arrived inside, they found a woman with light blonde hair working on something at the front desk. She was eye candy embodied - a sleeveless white top, a luminescent golden cape, and long, silvery gloves. Kairi heard Riku get smacked; the sound caused the woman to raise her gaze and get to her feet.

"Welcome to Castle Baron Hotel," she prompted. "How might I help you?"

Leon stepped up to her. "Are you Ms. Farrell?" The woman nodded. "I'm Squall Leonheart. I have a couple rooms booked here."

The receptionist glanced down at the book in front of her, turning pages until she found what she was looking for. "Ah, yes. Room for three and a room for four, correct?" Leon nodded. "Very well. I'll have someone to help you." She pressed a button on the counter, causing a small buzz; after a few moments, a teenage girl in bright, somewhat revealing green emerged from nearby. This time Roxas was the one who got smacked, prompting the girl to glare and shift a wrap around her body that Kairi had assumed to be an accessory of some sort but, given a good look, seemed to be a whip.

Ms. Farrell ignored the problems. "Rydia, could I get you to take Mr. Leonheart and his group to rooms 823 and 824?"

"Sure thing, Rosa. Right this way, sirs and madams." She turned and started towards the elevator, prompting the group to follow, bags in hand. On they way up, Kairi heard a fumbling behind her that, after a while, was interrupted by a wicked crack; when they arrived at the eighth floor, Roxas took off like Ifrit was on his heels. Rydia was standing there with what was most definitely a whip in her hand, striking the wall nearby and screaming, "And don't even _think_ about doing that again, goldie!"

She led the group to the correct rooms, drawing out a pair of keys and handing them to Leon. Then she took off back in the direction of the elevator. There was still for a moment, then the crack of her whip sounded as Roxas came racing back towards them with his tails between his legs.

Xion facepalmed. "_What did you do?_" she prompted.

Leon sighed. "Girls in '23. Guys in '24. Come on, better unpack."

+x+x+x+

After everyone had unpacked, Leon had insisted that they all "spend the day around town, we'll go story-hunting tomorrow." Roxas, Naminé, and Xion went for ice cream; Riku left to find a thrift store. Kairi decided to follow Sora around and found him going to a bookstore. Kairi facepalmed and chased after him.

"Lemme guess," she prompted. "Manga?"

"I don't have all of _Chibi Vampire_ yet," Sora admitted. "I got dropped with a cliffhanger on Volume 13. I _hate_ it when they do that!"

Kairi sighed, catching sight of a familiar book. "Oh, Leviath, I'm surprised that series is still making a profit," she murmured, looking away.

Sora looked past her, only to look away again. "Don't bring that to my attention next time."

"Would you believe me if I told you there was glitter in your hair?"

"Very funny. Ah, here's the manga section!" The vampire stepped toward the shelf at the end of the aisle. "Let's see... _Soul Eater_..._ Naruto_..._ Bleach_... Here we are, and... There!" He pulled a single volume off the shelf. "_Chibi Vampire_ Volume 14. Hope those Brownlick jerks get what's coming to them." Sora turned to see Kairi standing there with her hand on her head. "Hey, you came here yourself," he reminded her._  
_

"I know," Kairi replied. "It's just..." She glanced around. "You're a _vampire_, the _strongest of monsters_... and you're an otaku. That's..." She giggled. "That's kinda funny."

Sora sighed. "If I let you choose any book in this store, and I pay for it, will you _shut up_ about that?"

Kairi shook her head. "I'd gladly take you up on that offer, but there's nothing I'm looking for." She thought a moment. "Although..."

The vampire raised an eyebrow. "Although...?"

A chuckle emerged from Kairi. "I might let it go, if..."

"If what?"

The human girl beckoned him closer. "Come here." When Sora was close enough that he could have laid one on her, she grabbed him by the choker and pulled him close, whispering into his ear.

"Wait, _what?_" Sora stumbled back, his face crimson red. "You just...?"

"What?" Kairi seemed offended. "I'm not allowed to-"

"Kairi, that's... I didn't think... you mean you..."

Neither of them noticed the hand that shot out from behind the manga section until it closed around the front of Sora's shirt. Both of them yelped as Riku dragged Sora around and slammed him against the wall, stopping only to make sure it was a wall and not a display. "Don't even _think_ about it," he snapped.

"What?" Sora shouted. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, don't play dumb with me, you bloodsucking otaku," Riku muttered. "With that reaction, what do you _think?_ Do you take me for an idiot?"

Kairi realized what Riku must have assumed from the display. "Wait, Riku, it's not like that!" she insisted.

Riku growled over his shoulder. "And now _you're_ gonna feign ignorance?"

Sora shook his head. "You're getting... it's not... she just..." He tried to pull Riku's hand off his shirt.

"She just _what_?" Riku snapped.

A sigh passed through Kairi's lips.

"I wanted to read _Chibi Vampire_."

Riku's eyes widened. "Wait, _what__?_" he exclaimed, spinning around to face Kairi.

"Oh, come on!" Kairi insisted. She reached over the manga shelf and pulled off a random volume of the series in question. "Look at this cover. That girl's blushing like crazy. No matter _what _you're reading, you can tell a sweet story when the girl on the cover is blushing like that."_  
_

Sora and Riku exchanged incredulous glances. The werewolf sighed, letting the vampire hit the ground. "I'm gonna go find that ice cream stand Roxas was talking about," he muttered, stepping out of the bookstore. Kairi put the book back where it was and helped Sora to his feet.

"I'll let you read volume one when we get back to the hotel," he prompted. "Just gonna warn you, though, the artist has a weird thing for high-pressure nosebleeds."

Kairi raised an eyebrow. "Wait, _what?_"

"You'll understand when you read it."

+x+x+x+

They were on their way back to Castle Baron Hotel when it happened.

Sora was resisting the urge to open up the book, which mean Kairi giving the back cover a read was a help to both; Kairi was still confused by Sora's 'high pressure nosebleeds' comment. "What is it with you and monster manga?" Kairi prompted, handed the book back to Sora.

"I don't know," Sora replied, accepting the volume. He had left his bag at the hotel, so he just hooked the book under his arm as he continued, "They've just always got a 'gentler' look on monsters than most humans do. You know, coexistence. It's the kind of thing we're looking for."

"Yeah," Kairi mused. "I see what you mean."

At that moment, a figure in dark colors crashed into them, knocking both Yokai students to the ground. Sora hit the ground first, his vampyric reflexes prompting him to catch Kairi before she could hit the ground. The impactor only stumbled back; now that Sora got a good look at him, he was wearing a silvery-black robe with an axe outlined over his left side and a sword outlined over his right. Gloves covered his hands - gloves that looked like some kind of dark armour - and his hair was nightsky blue and jagged, rising up and then jerking back.

"Watch it, spikes," he snapped.

"Sorry," Sora muttered, helping Kairi to her feet. The robed guy muttered something about Sora being careless and took off, leaving the two of them to start back towards the hotel. Sora came to an abrupt stop after about six paces and started scrambling over his body. "What...? No!"

Kairi turned to him. "What's wrong?"

"My manga!" He spun around to see the pavement they had just crossed was blank. "My _Chibi Vampire_ volume is... gone!"

The robed guy flinched at the exclamation, and Sora's gaze narrowed. "Hey, you!" he snapped.

Right on cue, the man in question took off. Sora broke into a run, prompting Kairi to chase after him as he barrelled down the walkway, shouting, "Stop! Thief! Get back here!" Pedestrians were being shoved out of the way by the thief, leaving a clear run for Sora until the robed figure of his assailant pulled an unusually swift ninety degree turn, speeding into a narrow alleyway. Sora nearly crashed into the wall, but as Kairi watched he managed to dig his feet into the brick and skid across the wall, running his hand across the opposite building until his feet touched the ground.

The thief grabbed onto the fire escape of one of the buildings and started climbing, leaping up the ladder three rungs at a time. Sora managed to grab on and chase after him; Kairi panted at the base of the fire escape before following suit. The ladder ended one floor from the roof, leaving the robe to grab a few marginally displaced bricks and scale the building. Sora wasn't quite so swift, so he kicked off the opposite wall before chasing after him.

At first it seemed like this was going to turn into a race across the rooftops, but the thief took a wrong turn and found himself staring at the street two rooftops later. Turning around led him right to Sora. He did managed to leave a fakeout and leap over the vampire, robe flaring around him; when he arrived at the rooftop they had started at, he found Kairi stepping out from inside the building, standing defiantly in his way.

Sora managed to maneuver himself so that the thief was blocked in all four directions; two by the Yokai students, one by the street, one by his previous dead end - and he clearly saw that taking the long way around would prove futile.

He took two steps back and let his robe fall.

Kairi's eyes widened - this was a man with armour that was the same dark colour as his hair, trimmed with shining gold. At his right hip was braced a sword with a golden pommel, suspended in nothing but a small silver ring, and as she watched he reached for the blade with his left hand and drew it menacingly.

She exchanged glances with Sora before turning back to the thief. "If it is a fight you desire, will you agree to solitary combat?"

The thief nodded. "That I shall."

Kairi bit her lip. "One moment please." She stepped towards Sora, keeping herself ready in case the thief should try to one. Considering his armour and attitude, he was surprisingly honourable about it; he angled his blade towards the ground and set his right hand atop his left as they neared each other.

"You think you can take him?" Kairi murmured.

Sora shook his head. "I can't," he whispered back. "Squall told me ahead of time - monsters aren't allowed to attack humans in the human world, for any reason. Do you think he'll agree for hand-to-hand?"

Kairi gave a light grunt. "I'll see." Aloud, she called, "My ally cannot fight, for reasons I cannot disclose, and I have no weapon I may use. Will you agree to unarmed combat?"

The thief seemed surprised - and displeased. "Should I provide you with a weapon, will you accept it?"

"Will you agree to fight only unto disarm?"

"I shall."

"Then I accept." To Sora, Kairi whispered, "Keep him contained for me." She stepped forward as the knight flipped his sword into the air, grabbing it by the blade and handing it to Kairi. Hesitantly, she accepted it; the weight was more than she was used to, but after a while she managed to adapt a stance she could get used to; arms crossed, left below her right to support the weapon's weight. The thief pulled off his armoured gloves, which Kairi figured was to provide a bit of an even playing field.

Then he reached into the bundled robe and drew out a _battle axe_.

"Asura damn it," Kairi murmured, her eyes wide. The weapon was small - the head couldn't have been much larger that Kairi's hands side by side, the handle about the length of her forearm - but the way he was wielding it, bracing it back like it was huge enough cut off a troll's head in a single swipe, left her with the horrible impression that it was going to leave some nasty bruises.

The fight didn't even last five minutes. Kairi stepped forward with the speed she had picked up from fight club, going for a single vertical slash. The thief drew in his arm and lashed out, sending a shockwave across the sword in Kairi's hand that had her gripping her leg with her empty hand. She shot forward with a thrust, which the thief caught on his axe; then she tired an earthward blow, prompting him to sidestep it.

She arced it around for a spinning slash, but her opponent arced back, his spine forming a U against the ground as he drove his axe into the ground to support himself. Kairi couldn't stop the momentum without the sword driving into her leg, so she continued it into another spin, this one faster than the first and at a more earthward angle. The thief rolled across the ground to evade, scraping his axe against the ground. The weapon in Kairi's hand dug into the ground, and as she pulled it out of the ground with a thrust, the thief lashed forward with the axe coming around towards her.

The blade in Kairi's hand went exactly where she wanted it to go - straight towards her opponent's.

It was a millimetre away from the skin on the back of his grip when he reacted, arcing into a drop and spinning just off the ground before lashing out with an uppercut thrust before Kairi's stab was even finished.

The strike sent a serious vibration across Kairi's body that killed her tense focus. The weapon was knocked into the air before wheeling forward and clattering against the ground as Kairi stumbled to the ground and had to throw out her hands to stop her. The thief rose from the ground, clipping the axe onto the back of his belt and replacing his gloves before picking up the blade.

"You know something," he mused, turning to Sora, "I only took that volume of yours to provoke you into a fight. I've been looking for good combat for weeks now." He sheathed the blade, picking up his robe and slipping it onto his shoulders. "Clearly, I've come at a bad time. I'll be keeping this little book until you can face me yourself."

Then he turned and dashed off in the direction Kairi had been blocking, his sabatons clattering against the rooftops as Sora could only watch.

+x+x+x+

"Tell me what happened."

Sora and Kairi had returned to Castle Baron Hotel to find everybody waiting. They had gathered in 824, where Sora proceeded to explain the occurrence with the rogue. Naminé seemed shocked that they had been in the fight, while Xion was more displeased/surprised about it; Roxas, on the othar hand, had a cold, focused look on his face.

"So this thief just carries around a sword and a handaxe with him in broad daylight," Professor Leonheart observed. "And you couldn't do anything to stop him?"

"No," Sora murmured. "He took down Kairi, and you said we're not allowed to harm humans. I don't see how we're gonna-"

"He's not human."

Everyone turned to Kairi, who had been silent this whole time. "What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"He can't be human," she murmured. "No human could be that fast. And his strikes had... vibrations. Shockwaves that coursed through my body and kept moving until I put down his blade. There's no way he's human."

The group exchanged glances. "You think he might be the outlaw the bus driver mentioned?" Xion prompted.

"Maybe," Kairi admitted. "But I doubt he's going to go back to Wild Rose Valley and wait to be found. There's only..."

A knock on the door caused everyone to turn. Kairi got up and opened the door to see the girl in green, Rydia, standing there. In one hand was a letter. "Is there a... Sora Kingdom here?" the whip girl asked.

Sora got to his feet. "Is someone looking for me?" he prompted.

In response, Rydia held out the letter. "Some gave this to Rosa and left without a word. It has your name on it."

A confused Sora accepted the envelope and looked over it. It did have his name on it, along with '_Room 823/824_'. "What did this guy look like?" he asked, turning to Rydia.

"She said... a silvery-black robe?" Rydia prompted.

Sora's eyes widened. "It's him," he murmured. "Thank you. Sorry to trouble you." Rydia nodded and stepped away, prompting Sora to close the door and slice through the envelope's top. He drew out a letter and read it aloud.

_To Sora Kingdom,  
If you wish to take me up on the rematch I have offered you, meet me at Wild Rose Valley. If you or anyone you know owns a weapon, come armed. If not, you may choose one from my group's stock. If you have friends that wish to join you, you may bring up to three allies. Kairi Chikai may join as spectator if she so desires.  
Leon Longinus_

"Wait, _Leon_?" Everyone's gaze shifted to Squall, who raised his hands defensively.

"It's a nickname," he insisted. "I've been in here on the phone all day with Rinoa. I have no idea who this rogue is."

Sora sighed, tossing the letter and envelope into a corner. "Well, I'm not going to cower away," he stated. "You guys coming?"

Roxas nodded. "I'm curious to see what he's got in mind," he mused.

Xion got up. "If he's not human... I want to know what he's doing here."

Naminé hesitated, but she quickly followed suit. "You're going to need a medic."

Riku shook his head. "I'll pass. Sorry."

"Kairi," Sora prompted, turning to her, "you coming?"

The human girl thought a moment... and nodded. "I will."

+x+x+x+

"Damn it, Leon!"

The rogue grit his teeth as he was confronted by one of his allies; a figure in bright, close-fit armour, with a cape and a rather flashy bandanna. "You said you were going to keep out of trouble!"

"Hey, you're the one who told me to stay here," Leon snapped. "I didn't want to be dealing with you, but _no_, you insisted that I stick with you guys."

"You were going to be a mercenary!" the ally retorted. "It wasn't going to make any difference!"

Leon glared. "I was going to be a _proper warrior_," he snapped. "One seeking battle. I was going to take up jobs if I found one with good pay and I liked what I saw. I don't care what she's paying us, this place is Pandaemonium-level boring, I _need_ a good fight to stay focused."

His ally sighed. "What you _need_ is to stop acting like such a blood knight," he accused.

"Then why don't _you_ give me a fight?" Leon snapped.

"Is that a challenge?"

Leon's left hand went to his sword.

His ally's right went to his own.

"Leon! Firion!"

Both of them turned to see a large, muscled figure approaching them. Leon huffed and turned away as the bright-clad Firion stepped forward. "What's up, Guy?"

"New people come to valley," Guy replied. "Maria say have weapons."

Leon raised his gaze. "Ooh, that must be Kingdom and his friends."

Firion turned. "You got their names _already_?" he asked.

The thief ignored the question, turning to Guy. "Hey, muscle, how many did Maria say there were?"

"Five - three girl, two boy," Guy replied.

Leon's gaze narrowed. "Wait, _five_?" A thought lit up on his face. "Oh, did one of them have red hair?" When Guy nodded, Leon chuckled. "That'll be Chikai come to watch. Come on, Firion, we've got a job to do."

Firion growled. "You _invited_ them here?" he snapped. "Did you even _think_ how they're gonna react to this?"

"Yes, as it happens, I did," Leon replied. "And you know what? If you're going to be that bitchy about it, I'll take the blame for them showing up. Now drop the 'plaint and draw your blade." He cast off his cloak and headed past Guy, drawing his sword and axe as he made his way across the valley's hills.

An exasperated sigh passed through Firion's lips. "Guess that time as a dark knight really got into his skin."

"Come on," Guy prompted. "Us go fight bad people."

Firion chuckled. "Yeah. Come on, Guy, let's go."

+x+x+x+

"Good luck."

Kairi nodded at the bus driver's words as the rest of the team stepped out. "Yeah. Thanks for the ride. I'd ask if you're going to wait for us..." A brief chuckle passed through her lips as she added, "but we both know that you'll be here when we finish - no sooner, no later."

A subdued laugh emerged from the driver as she stepped out, the doors closed as the bus took off. They made their way into Wild Rose Valley, Xion forming claws on her right hand and Roxas holding a ball of flame in his left. Naminé set her pencil on the paper, not moving it. Kairi could tell she was using her witchy-watching skills - if anything was endangering them, her pencil would start moving.

So when her pencil started moving, everyone came to a stop. The flames on Roxas' hand even vanished.

Kairi watched as Naminé - painfully slowly - began to draw. The image crafted a surprising figure - a girl in blue, formfitting armour, with a bow in her right hand and hair that was the same nightsky-blue as their thief's.

"Who's that?" Kairi prompted.

Roxas and Xion both raised their gazes, as though synchronized. "Probably one of Leon's allies," Roxas observed. "He wouldn't have allowed a team of four if he wasn't going to have allies."

"Speak of the devil..."

Everyone spun around to see the thief standing there.

"...and Pandaemonium will rise."

The group took offensive stances. Leon only chuckled. "Glad Maria caught sight of you. I wanted to greet you before you got too far."

"Too far?" Kairi glared. "What are you hiding here?"

Leon shook his head. "Not something we're _hiding_ so much as something we don't want to find out," he admitted. "And if _we_ don't want to find out about it-" He cut himself off as his face lit up. "Ah, Firion! What took you so long?"

The group spun round to see a warrior in bright armour, cape, and a flashy bandanna, a longsword sheathed at his waist and a small shield perched on his arm. Behind him was a muscled figure in a heavy chestplate and short armoured leggings, with a huge broadsword across his back. Roxas and Xion took battle stances as Sora, Naminé, and Kairi turned back to Leon - and standing at his side was the girl from Naminé's foretelling sketch, bow in one hand, arrow in the other, and quiver across her back.

"What's with the party?" Sora demanded.

The archer rolled her eyes. "Leon got cocky," she admitted. "I'm Maria Longinus. The flashy swordsman is Firion Ragnarok, and the bruiser is Guy."

Leon drew his sword. It was a different sword than he had before - this was a cold blue weapon with a wavy inner edge. There was a flame pattern carved into the flat of the blade. No sooner had Kairi taken it in than Leon drew from his back a much larger axe than previous; this weapon was a scalding, poisonous shade of pink, with a skull and crossbones in the center of the head.

Kairi gulped. "That's... a _big_ axe," she gasped.

On the other side of the formation, Guy drew his broadsword - a massive weapon with a blade of golden hues, and a spiral guard around the handle, arcing up to form the hilt. He arced it before him, causing it to _thud_ into the ground as he drew a large shield in his left hand, sliding it onto his arm before grabbing the weapon with both.

Roxas grit his teeth. "That's... a _big_ sword," he admitted.

Firion hooked his left hand on the hilt of his own blade. "And those are small claws," he mused, beckoning to the sharpened wraps of ice around Xion's fingers. "Didn't Leon tell you to come armed?"

"I _told_ them to come armed," Leon snapped, upset at the accusation. "It's their own fault if they didn't-"

He was cut off as Sora thrust out his hand, like he was attacking with an open palm, and Leon and Maria braced their weapons.

With a flare of light, Sora's Keyblade was there - a long, silver shaft tipped with a shining crown, gold circling the handle to guard his hand. The way it appeared implied he would be fighting with it teeth-down, but as Leon and his crew watched, Sora only whirled the weapon in hand, arcing it into a suspended spin before grabbing it with flawless movements and bracing it two-handed, teeth-up,

Xion and Roxas gave synchronized smirks towards Firion and Guy. Xion raised her left hand before her face, and a light coursed from her hand, parting into twin shafts like _Souba_. Then one shaft arced towards the other, curling into a heart, and the other arced away from the one, flaring into kanji.

_Hikari_.

Light.

She lashed it down at her side as Roxas' hand flew skyward across his torso. Darkness stormed from his palm, leaving a hollow like the empty heart of some kind of demon hound. Then a chain of cold steel stormed up that gap like a velvet nightmare, and that darkness spiked away at the tip to form kanji.

_Yami_.

Darkness.

He lashed it down as Xion had, and flares of light and shadow coursed from the base of their Key's handles. Each flash was an individual chain link taking form, white gold upon the light, black gold upon the shadow, until Xion's ended with a single shining thalassa shell, and Roxas' terminated with a single gold link.

Wings of angel closed around Xion's left hand.

Wings of demon closed around Roxas' right.

The two whirled their Keys in synchronicity, yielding sparks all to hell before lashing them down, forming a deadly _χ_ between them.

Naminé rolled her eyes as she flipped open her sketchbook, racing her pencil across the paper. "Show-offs," she muttered.

Firion shook his head, reaching for his blade. "Couldn't agree more."

The blade was drawn in a sharp, screaming swipe. The weapon was a bloodied red, marked with almost arcane swirls, and he braced the blade before his face so it seemed to cover the lower half of his face.

There was silence for a brief moment.

Then Xion and Roxas shot towards Firion and Guy, and Sora whirled into a spin, hurling his Keyblade at Leon as one of the wild roses scattered across the valley flew from the earth, binding the string of Maria's bow to the shaft. The thrown Key collided with the axe in Leon's right hand, becoming forced to the ground - the thief probably didn't count on Sora leaping after it, lashing out with a flurry of close-combat strikes and weaving around the blows before grabbing his Key and locking blades with Leon.

Maria tried to nock an arrow, but the rose wrapped around it held fast - leaving Naminé with ample opportunity to send the grass under her feet tearing out of the earth, racing up Maria's body and leaving cuts all across her arms. The grass shifted as it passed, the individual blades of nature weaving together a deadly whip that flared down, binding Maria against herself as Naminé pulled the bow out of her hands. The archer managed to cut the grass-whip with the point of her arrow, spinning round and hurling it at Naminé.

The witch dove out of the way, and the arrow flew past Kairi before being knocked out of the air between the shafts of Xion's Keyblade. She and Roxas were striking parallel blows against Firion and Guy; the way the two were fighting, that meant getting around Guy's heavy guard, and avoiding Firion when he skidded up the bruiser's back and went for a flying strike. The yoko and snowgirl were fighting in perfect synch; if one had lined up a mirror, their attacks would look much the same.

At one point, the two of them leapt away and lashed out, both hurling their Keys identically. Guy caught Xion's Key on his shield and struck Roxas' Key with his broadsword, sending it flying towards where Sora and Leon were trading blows. Sora saw it coming and floored himself, leaving Leon to beat the whirling strike away with his axe; the vampire used the distraction to his advantage, knocking the blade out of Leon's left hand before grabbing it in his own and bracing it before him, perching his Keyblade over his shoulder.

Leon leapt at him, lashing out with his axe two-handed; Sora caught that on the sword and beat it out of his hands with his Keyblade, causing it to hurl into the air. Leon lashed out with twin fist blows that were caught on the Key before lashing out with a kick to the groin; Sora spun round and caught the strike in the crook of his knee and lashed out with his other foot, striking Leon in the chest with enough force to send him tumbling back.

The axe impaled itself in the ground between Maria and Naminé, who had pulled away from each other when they had seen it fall. Maria had an arrow in either hand, and now she hurled the one in her right at Naminé, who beat it to the ground with the bow, before pulling the axe from the ground and lashing out. Naminé floored herself under the horizontal strike before lashing out with the bow straight; Maria dropped the axe and blocked the bow with her right arm, grabbing it, before trying to stab Naminé with the arrow in her left hand.

Naminé leapt into the air, bringing both her and Maria to the ground; Maria managed to claim the bow before Naminé, leaving the which grabbing her sketchbook and racing the pencil across the paper, dodging around the staff-strikes with the bow; as she swept her pencil off the page, blades of grass shot into the air, beating Maria's blades back. As the archer watched, the grass whirled around Naminé like some sort of protective hurricane before taking form as a long sword in her right hand.

She lashed out, striking the arrow out of Maria's hand with such force that it was sent flying towards Roxas and Xion, who had been pinned down into individual combat. Roxas was clashing blows with Guy; the bruiser's weapon was so huge that Roxas couldn't block blows with his Keyblade, and the shield was a pain in the rear. Xion was locked in combat with Firion; the swordsman was swift enough that he made it difficult for the snowgirl to get any hits in. Both of them were slowly being forced back from their fights.

Xion resorted to catching Firion's bloodred sword between her claws, using the disadvantage to lash her Keyblade forward; but Firion only caught the strike on his shield before lashing out with a kick that knocked her back. Roxas managed to launch himself by setting a flaming palm on Guy's broadsword and using the momentum for a falling blow, but Guy only struck him as he fell, and though Roxas did avoid getting cleaved by forcing his Key against it, the strike sent him flying.

They skidded to a stop near Naminé and Sora. Naminé's grass-blade was slowly wearing Maria down, and Leon, despite having reclaimed his axe, was not faring well against Sora's two-strike method with his Keyblade and Leon's sword. Roxas got to his feet and hooked Leon's axe on the teeth of his dark Key, dragging him backwards; Xion likewise forced Maria back by hooking her light Key on the bowstring and using the slingshot effect to drag her back.

Sora hurled the cold blade at Leon, bracing his Keyblade in two hands.

Naminé led the grass-formed sword part, setting her pencil against her sketchbook.

Xion and Roxas crossed their Keys between them, deadly glares at their opponents.

Leon was about to grab his blade when he realized there was someone missing.

"Where is she?"

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "She?"

"The redhead. Chikai. Where'd she go?"

Sora's eyes widened. "Kairi!" He whirled around, pulling off a precision scan of the area. "Where is-"

Guy gave a heavy grunt, and everyone turned to see him fall over, revealing Kairi standing there with her hand where his neck had been. She shot forward and pulled a large dagger from the sheath at his waist before coming to a stop in front of her friends, turning round, and bracing the blade before her.

"Not fair!" Guy protested, getting to his feet. "Mean sneaky!"

Firion growled, grasping his blade in both hands. "That's it-"

"Couldn't agree more," Kairi prompted, taking the dagger in her left hand by the blade.

One hand reached back and set the dagger into Sora's hand.

The other reached back and pulled the crown off his neck.

Energy erupted around Sora, causing everyone to turn around and take several steps back as a piercing scream ripped through the air. The fire-against-shadow darkness rose in Sora's hair, his fingernails sharpened themselves into claws like pin tumbler keys, and one could see his teeth arcing into fangs as he grit his teeth. As he opened his eyes, they seemed to flash gold for a moment; then the precious metal receded, becoming rings around his pupil within the bloodred irises.

"Stop screaming, you little thief, and put 'em up."

Everyone around Sora blinked and turned back to face Leon, who had his mouth open. The dark knight closed his mouth hurriedly and gave a snarl, raising his sword and axe.

The clawslinger whirled the knife in hand, causing it to scrape against something in his pocket. A look of confusion lit up in Sora's face, and he glanced down, trading his knife to his other hand and reaching in to reveal a can of tomato juice sitting in there. "Forgot about that," he muttered.

The can was handed to Xion, who closed her clawed fingers around it carefully.

"Hold my drink - and watch this."

Sora shot forward with a monstrous speed, coming to a stop in front of Guy. He slammed a knee into the bruiser's gut and spun as he doubled over. At the peak of his fall, Guy's nose drove into Sora's right elbow, and the vampire slammed his fist into the muscle's stomach before lashing out with a straight-edged kick that sent Guy tumbling back.

All of this happened in less than three seconds.

Firion lashed out with the crimson longsword, but Sora grabbed it by the blade and lashed out with the dagger, severing the hilt from the handle. He whirled the blade between his claws and drove it into the ground before slamming the back of his fist into Firion's nose, driving his elbow into his chest, and lashing out with a backhand slap that sent Firion tumbling over.

Maria fired an arrow at him, but Sora impaled it on Guy's dagger before using it to cut the shaft of the bow in half. He grabbed one half of that shaft and lashed out with it, causing it to whirl around Maria; then he struck out with a roundhouse kick that sent her falling to the ground, and Sora only impaled the dagger in the ground next to her before spinning to Leon and thrusting his open hand towards him.

Everyone turned away with a grimace.

Then turned back when nothing happened.

Sora was standing there, the tip of his claws several millimetres from where Leon's face would be if he were not pulled away in horror. Slowly, Leon turned back towards Sora. Everyone could only watch as Sora rotated his hand so that the palm was facing skyward... and then his fingers curl, beckoning in a 'give it here' manner.

Leon angled the sword in his left hand.

Sora shook his head.

The axe in Leon's right hand was raised.

Sora shook his head again.

Hesitation; then Leon set the axe down and reached back, drawing out a familiar book from under his armour, and set it into Sora's hand.

The clawslinger pulled away and started towards the rest of the Yokai students who stared at him dumbfoundedly. "Do what you want with him," Sora prompted, pulling the crown off of Kairi's hand. "I'm done here."

Kairi's hand was suspended in space as she turned to follow him, along with the rest of the group. "Sora Kingdom," she exclaimed, "_you're_ a freaking _otaku?!_"

Sora didn't respond; he just clipped the crown onto his chain and made his way out of the valley, lapsing into his transition sleep on his way.

The group turned towards Leon, who raised a hand before him defensively, before following suit.

+x+x+x+

"So what's goin' on."

Leon winced at the commander's tone. Firion, Maria, and Guy were still recovering, leaving Leon to deliver the report. "The... the intruders were too powerful, sir," he explained. "We were able to hold them back for the most part, but one of them... he..."

His commander glanced over his shoulder, sky blue eyes tremoring in curiosity. "He what?"

"He... I don't know, he... he _erupted_ with power," Leon explained. "He struck down the others in the time it would take for Firion and I to cross blades seven times. He would have struck me down as well, if he hadn't only been after that book of his."

A chuckle emerged from the commander before him. "Sir?"

"Leon, you're on patrol. If they come back, alert me immediately, understand? We need to know when they decide to visit again."

The blood knight grit his teeth and bowed his head.

"Yes... Master Fair."

* * *

Draco: Because I'm _evil_ like that.


	16. Diamond Dust Through Onyx Darkness

Draco: No summon magic here. 'Diamond Dust' actually describes really really fine snow.

Minor spoiler and liberties disclaimer: In this chapter, Kairi orders gourmet breakfast as room service. Nothing in my mind can make me believe without looking it up that there exists a hotel that could even call itself connected to a four-star restaurant, let alone order its food as room service. In addition, that price tag is _completely_ made up and is nothing but a joke on the room service people's ages. Just clearing that up, because if I save it for the afterword then I _know_ I'm going to forget. _  
_

Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 16: Diamond Dust Through Onyx Darkness**

"So how'd it go?"

Professor Leonheart's question was surprisingly casual. Kairi shrugged. "More or less well," she admitted. "He certainly wasn't alone, that's for sure. And those were not the same weapons he had before."

"Did I miss any bloodsucking action?" Riku prompted, a smirk on his face.

"Nope," Naminé replied. "A little bloodsuck_er_ action, but no bloodsuck_ing._"

Kairi, who was perched on one of the beds of the spacious hotel room, managed to elbow Sora without letting go of the book that the vampire had lent her. "Speaking of bloodsucking," she replied, "this is really good."

"You gonna need volume 2?" he prompted, halfway through the new one.

"Maybe." A yawn passed through Kairi's lips. "Ah, is it that late already?" The sunset had begun by the time the bus driver had brought them back to Castle Baron Hotel; as she glanced at the clock, Kairi was surprised to see it read _10:41._

Leonheart noticed as well. "So it is," he observed. "Come on, girls in the other room."

"Aw, come on, Squall!" Sora protested, turning against the bed to face him. When the Yokai teacher glared at him, he raised his hands defensively. "Sorry. It's gonna take a while before I can get used to calling you 'Leon' again."

"...Understandable," the teacher grudgingly admitted. "Squall it is. For this trip at least."

"Sora's got a point, there," Riku admitted, turning towards him. "Why've we gotta split up by genders? Let Sora, Kairi, Xion, and Roxas stay in here. Me, you, and Naminé can take the other room."

Squall rolled his eyes. "Don't act like you don't know why," he prompted. "Besides, I'm not sharing a room with you two lovebirds and leaving the whole flock in here."

"Don't even _joke_ about that!" Naminé, Kairi, and Xion protested at once. Sora and Roxas got very red very fast.

Leonheart blinked. "Well, I guess that's reason enough to trust you all to share a room under those conditions," he admitted. "Kairi, Xion, go get your stuff. Riku, grab your gear and get out." He then proceeded to do so himself.

In the next room, Naminé pointed a very accusing finger at Kairi and Xion. "Don't either of you even _think_ about doing anything in there," she snapped. "Alright?"

"You have to ask that?" Xion protested.

"The way you've been acting, yes!" Naminé replied.

Kairi sighed, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "Come on, Naminé!" she protested. "Don't start acting like this _now_."

Naminé turned to her. "What, you expect me to save it until after you two wake up hot and sweaty and p-"

The human girl raised her hand as though to slap her.

Xion screamed and pulled away, crossing her arms before her to guard.

Naminé's eyes went wide.

Kairi's seemed to be _blazing_. "Do. Not. Talk. To. Me. Like. That." Her voice was absolutely _necrous_. "Am I understood?"

A horrifying image flashed back in Naminé's mind - Kairi in the abandoned prison, fighting on borrowed blood - obsidian hair and sharpened talons where her fingernails should be.

"Y-Yes," Naminé insisted.

Then Kairi left, and Xion gave a heavy sigh of relief. "That was scary," she murmured, turning towards her bags.

Naminé turned to her. "What the hell just happened? I could have sworn she went all... all... _vampy_ for a moment!"

"Um, 'vampy'?" Xion asked.

"You know, shadowy hair, sharp fingernails, that kind of look in her eyes that's a hundred times deadlier than Sora just because Kairi's so sweet normally?"

Xion made an 'ah' expression and went back to packing. "That's just your witch powers. You got stressed for a moment, so a memory involving stress and Kairi got vivid in your mind."

Naminé blinked. "Okay, how the _hell_ do you know that?"

"I learned a lot about other monsters before I came to Yokai Academy," Xion explained. "It came in handy when..." She fell quiet and threw her bag over her shoulder.

"When what?" Naminé prodded.

"Not important," Xion insisted. "Good night, Naminé."

Naminé wanted to ask more, but she decided that Xion wouldn't hide anything without a good reason. "Alright. 'Night, Xion."

The snowgirl left as Riku stepped inside. Naminé tried to glare at him, but Riku only laughed, insisting, "You can't do scary at me, Naminé. I've seen all your scary already."

+x+x+x+

The hotel rooms each held two queen-sized beds in order to accommodate four each. Roxas and Xion fell asleep quickly, but Sora and Kairi kept reading for as long as their bodies would allow. They ended up passing out with manga in hand at half an hour to midnight; volume 2 of _Chibi Vampire_ landed near-finished in Kairi's lap, while volume 13 dangled at the halfway off of Sora's knee as he slept against the edge of the bed.

Downstairs, Rosa was about to close down for the night when the door opened. She raised her gaze wearily to see someone stepping in; he had deep blue garments and leather pauldrons on his shoulders, along with a pair of belts around his waist. With a weak sigh, Rosa asked, "Can I help you?"

The customer seemed to notice. "My apologies, are you closing down?" he prompted. "I can come back later."

"No, no," Rosa insisted. "It's alright. Do you need a place to stay tonight?"

"I just wanted to know if someone had shown up here," the newcomer replied. "He was dressed in a dark robe, sorta silvery-black-?"

"He's not here," Rosa answered. "He had arrived for a delivery, but nothing more. Is that all?"

"Yes," the customer assured her. "Thank you for your time. Sorry to bother you." He turned and stepped away, closing the door behind him.

Rosa narrowed her gaze. There was something suspicious about him. Slowly, she reached out and pressed a button on her counter, cuing a light beep; a few moments later, a figure in dark armour stumbled out of a nearby room, a helmet in his hand. His long, icy white hair was cascading around him as he stepped forward. "You called, Rosa?"

The receptionist gave a light chuckle. "Cecil, where does all that hair _go_ when you put that helmet on?" she joked.

"Don't think about it too much," Cecil insisted. "What do you need?"

Rosa's face became stern. "Someone who was acting very militant just came in here asking about that Longinus guy who delivered the letter to Mr. Leonheart's group. He seemed kinda... suspicious. It was like... he was making sure his allies weren't here. Would you mind watching over the lobby until tomorrow?"

Cecil smiled. "No problem," he insisted. "Consider it done."

"Thanks." Rosa gave him a light peck on the cheek. "Is Kain up?"

"Nah," Cecil replied dismissively, "he passed out on the rafters."

"How does he do that?" Rosa mused, stepping away.

When she had left, Cecil checked the time. _11:55_. It was going to be a long, dark night.

+x+x+x+

Kairi woke up the next morning wondering where she was. The previous days events came back to her, and she glanced at the clock. _7:00_. "Old habits die hard," she murmured, getting to her feet. The _Chibi Vampire_ volume started to tumble out of her lap, but she grabbed it before she could lose her page. She was about to start reading again when her stomach roared.

"Damn," she murmured. _Now that I think about it, I haven't had anything to eat since yesterday's **breakfast**. No wonder I'm hungry._ She glanced around to see Sora sleeping upright against the bead. Doing her best not to wake him, she reached for the room's phone and checked the listing, dialing the number for room service as she reached for the menu.

The pickup was fast. "Room service; this is Edge."

"Hey, this is Kairi Chikai in room 824. Can I get one platter of Black Magic Pancakes, one..." She cut herself off, glancing at Sora, and corrected herself, "make that two platters of Choco-Frost French Toast, four... I mean, six Twincast Muffins, two Orange Flare Smoothies, a Deathbringer Shake, a Mythgraven Shake, two... make that four single-liter bottles of Coca-Cola, and..." Kairi leafed through the drinks section for a moment. "Um... Do you have any tomato juice down there?"

"Small cans, we do," Edge replied. "One moment please." There was a muffled shout of, "Tellah, would you leave Edward alone already! Get the twins ready for room service!" There was some distant murmuring of agreement, then Edge added, "So, that was a platter of Black Magic Pancakes, two platters of Choco-Frost French Toast, six Twincast Muffins, two Orange Flares, a Deathbringer, a Mythgraven, four one-liter Cokes, and a can of tomato juice?"

Kairi nodded, realized that was pointless, and answered, "That'll do. Payment on delivery or at checkout?"

"On delivery, please. Your total comes to $270.66 with tax. Would you like a Silver Leaf or Gold Leaf with that?"

The redhead reached for her bag as she turned back through the menu. "I'll take... four Gold, four Silver."

"That'll be another six dollars, tax included," Edge warned.

"I know. Bring it up."

"Alright. Thank you for your business." The line was cut, and Kairi set the phone down as she got to her feet, setting the bag down and shuffling around for her purse. When she had found it, she drew out the necessary dough and sat back down to finish off _Chibi Vampire_ volume 2.

It didn't take her long, and as she set it down next to the first, she found herself gazing at Sora's face. There was a strange serenity to his slumber, like there was nothing wrong. Like there was nothing to even worry about. Looking at him like this, you would never be able to tell that he was a vampire, the strongest of monsters - he looked so at peace, not a care in the world.

As though thinking about it for too long had stirred his consciousness, his head fell forward, and he blinked several times for a moment, gazing forward like he, too, had forgotten his location. With a yawn, he leaned back, his head lolling back onto the mattress - and he found himself eye-to-eye with Kairi.

The vampire gave a yelp, pulling forward unwarningly. The _Chibi Vampire_ volume 14 fell to the ground, landing page-down as he hit the floor, turning around to face Kairi as she giggled. Sora sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Give me a break, Kairi."

"Sora, you lazy bum," Kairi mused. "Come on, get up, I don't know where you're hiding your otaku bag and I want volume 3."

"It's not an _otaku_ bag, it's-" He was cut off by a roar from his stomach, causing him to glance down at himself. "Ow," he murmured.

Kairi shook her head. "Don't worry, I've got room service on the way with two platters of sugar-frosted french toast, a Coke, and a tomato juice."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "That's it?" he prompted.

"No, that's just your share," Kairi replied.

The vampire chuckled, getting up to get his bag. "Yeesh, hardly started summer break and you already know me enough to size up my meal." He started towards the pile that was his and Roxas' bags, digging through until he found the big _COLES_ bag. He drew out _Chibi Vampire _volume 3 and turned around before coming to an abrupt stop.

"What's wrong?" Kairi asked.

Sora closed his eyes and sighed, a smirk rising to his face. "Look at that."

Kairi followed his gaze to where Roxas and Xion lay. The two of them had fallen asleep on opposite ends of the bed and had managed to end up with their arms around each other in the morning. A soft smile rose on Kairi's face. "That's... sweet," she murmured.

"Yeah..." Sora shook his head and stepped towards her, handing the human girl volume 3 as he picked up number 14. "Now don't talk to me. I need to finish this before room service gets here."

The human girl accepted the book and started reading. She was halfway through when there was a knock on the door, and she set the book down, picked up her money, and started towards the door. Sora followed with a heartbroken-heartwarming expression on his face. "What's wrong?" Kairi asked.

"I'm not going to spoil it for you!" Sora protested. "That would just be mean."

Kairi giggled. "Stop talking, you super-powered otaku," she murmured, glancing through the peephole. A figure was standing there in flashy, ninjile garments of greyish-blue and black, with a white cape and a grey cowl covering his mouth. Wary, Kairi kept the chain-and-bolt on the door and pulled it open.

"Room service for Kairi Chikai, room 824?" The voice was that she had spoken with on the phone, and in his hands were a tray of drinks and a covered platter, and a rack of syrup was hanging off his little finger - the four-slot kind with the handle rising from the center. Dangling from his wrist was a smartphone with some kind of square embedded in the auxiliary slot.

"Um, hi," Kairi prompted. "I'm sorry, but that's not-"

"Hey!" The call caused Kairi to glance down. Two young figures in bright white robes trimmed with green were standing there, a boy and a girl, both with bright green hair. The boy was holding two covered platters; the girl was holding one and a can of tomato juice that she set back onto Edge's tray of drinks. "Don't ignore us just because you can't see us from inside!" the boy snapped.

The girl smacked him in the back of the head. "Palom, behave!" she snapped. "Please excuse my brother's attitude," she prompted to Kairi.

The boy, Palom, managed to take the hit without dropping or angling either of the trays. "Come on, Porom!" he protested.

"Both of you, quit it," Edge insisted. "You are Miss Chikai?" he prompted.

"Um, yeah. One moment please." She closed the door and slid the bolt out before pulling the barrier open. "Sorry about that. I guess I should have seen it coming, what with Rydia and Ms. Farrel, but your clothes are kind of... exotic."

Edge's eyes smirked at her. "Yeah, I don't blame you. Kinda surprised someone your age is here in the first place, so we're even." He went back to business. "Anyways, that's $276.66, taxes and room service fee included, with the leaves - hold this please," he prompted to Sora, handing him the tray of drinks as he arced the smartphone into his hand and held it out to Kairi. "Swipe here."

Kairi blinked. "Swipe?" She glanced at the three one-hundred dollar bills in her left hand. "Er, do you take cash?" Asking that question was just plain weird.

There was surprise on what she could see of Edge's face, as well. "Um... maybe?" He let the phone dangle and reached into his pocket and pulled out a wallet, parting it with one hand. "I got-"

Edge's problem caused Kairi to take pity on him. "You know what, don't worry," she insisted, popping the bills into his wallet before he could react. "Keep the change. Call it a tip."

"Score!" Palom cheered.

Porom smacked him again.

"Thanks," Edge replied, folding his wallet and slipping it back into his pocket. "I'll break it when I get down. There somewhere we can put this?"

"Sure, come on in," Kairi prompted, leading them inside. There was an empty table in the corner of the room, where Edge and the waiter kids set down the meal. Kairi pulled it out a bit and set up chairs around it when they were done; and as they left, Sora flipped the younglings a dollar each, causing them to both cheer as they stepped out.

Sora waited until they had closed the door behind them before he started pulling the lids off the platters. The scent of sugar-frosted french toast, chocolate-chip pancakes, and various two-sided fresh-baked muffins rose into the air, causing Sora to pull back in shock; Kairi shuffled through the drawers and pulled out a few crystal-clean sets of cutlery, setting them down around the table as the scent wafted towards the still-sleeping Roxas and Xion.

The bizzare synchronicity that the two had demonstrated during the battle at Wild Rose Valley showed itself again; the two of them started stirring in their sleep, sniffing the air like a pair of bloodhounds. The two of them opened their eyes to find themselves a matter of inches from each other.

Both of them gave shocked yelps, pulling away from each other and falling off of the bed. Xion threw out her hands as though to catch herself and ended up blasting a slope to slide herself to the ground out of icy fire. Roxas hit the ground with a roll, his hair sparking as he landed and slammed his head into the mattress. He managed to pull himself off before anything ignited; after catching sight of Xion's handiwork, he snapped his fingers, causing the ice to evaporate.

Yoko and snowgirl locked eyes for a brief moment; then they turned to Sora and Kairi. "What's that smell?"

Kairi chuckled. "Castle Baron Hotel's chefs make some _exquisite_ meals and I woke up hungry as hell," she replied. She and Sora parted, beckoning to the meal spread across the table. "Breakfast is served!"

"Sweet frozen Ifrit," Roxas exclaimed, "they give you _that_ with the room?!"

Xion blinked repeatedly. "If I knew this was their idea of a complimentary breakfast I'd have come here _forever_ ago!"

The observation caused Kairi's face to fall slightly. "Complimentary...?" She shook her head. "No, this is room service. I don't think they have a complimentary breakfast here."

"Room service-?" Roxas was surprised.

"Well, they call it room service," the human girl admitted, "but I think this is straight from their main diner area."

That caused Xion to start. "Kairi Chikai, you just ordered _six meals_ out of a _four-star_ restaurant because you _woke up hungry_?" she exclaimed. "Are you crazy? Squall's gonna-"

Kairi shook her head. "He won't even notice unless I tell him," she insisted. "It was payment-on-delivery. Worst case scenario, he'll walk in and find a few empty platters. It's no problem."

Roxas' eyes started opening and closing like a stop-motion camera. "P-pay-pay-p-p-payment on-" The yoko turned and leapt towards the pile of bags that he and Sora had formed, causing Kairi and Sora to turn in confusion - and thus, not notice Xion reaching for and digging through her purse.

"Roxas," Kairi prompted, "what are you-"

The firefinger surfaced, sifting through a wallet emblazoned with a flaming face on either side. He drew out two tens and a five and held them out to Kairi. "This is all I got," he murmured weakly.

A tap on Kairi's shoulder caused her to turn to see another ten in Xion's hand. "Here, we can pay you back the rest after we get back to Yokai," she insisted. "Is that alright?"

Kairi realized what was going on and shook her head with a smile. "Guys-"

"Please don't hurt me!" Roxas insisted. "I've been trying to get some cash for too long now..."

The smile fell from Kairi's face. "Guys..."

"We can get you the money, I swear," Xion vowed. "Here, you can sell my cloak, I'm sure-"

"_Guys!_" Kairi shouted, throwing her hands in the air and causing both of them to pull away. "Do you _want_ your breakfast to get cold?"

Xion blinked. "You mean-"

Kairi shook her head. "It's _nothing_," she insisted. "Consider this my thanks to all of you, for helping me out at Yokai. Come on, dig in."

Roxas dropped the three bills. "Honestly? You're not going to-"

"Honestly," Kairi assured him. "The muffins and smoothies are for you guys. Enjoy."

Yoko and snowgirl exchanged shocked glances before turning to Kairi - and, to her complete shock, giving very formal bows. "Thank you!" they cried simultaneously.

Kairi smiled, sitting down at her platter of Black Magic Pancakes. Sora grabbed the milkshakes and looked between them for a moment. "Which one's yours?" he prompted, turning to the human girl.

"The Deathbringer," Kairi replied. When Sora looked at her like she was some kind of murderer, she laughed and elaborated, "The chocolate one. The Mythgraven is for you."

Sora slid the milkshake to Kairi and took a sip from the vanilla milkshake before grabbing the syrup and dousing his Choco-Frost French Toast. Xion and Roxas were digging into their Twincast Muffins with pleasure; the flavours were split down the middle, so they cut the muffins so that they each got a piece of each flavour. The four of them ate with pleasure, forming a leftovers tray on one of the paper plates Kairi had found in the 'meal gear' drawer - one of Kairi's huge pancakes, a slice and a half of Sora's french toast, a small cup of syrup, and a various collection of muffin halves.

Bizzarely enough, everyone managed to get through their meals without hardly touching their drinks, leaving them to sit back and relax after Kairi had wrapped the tray. Xion re-chilled the milkshakes.

"Kairi," the snowgirl mused, lowering her Orange Flare, "how did you pay for all this?"

"My father gave me some spending money before I came to Yokai Academy," she replied. "I'm so stingy with cash that I almost forgot about it - when Leon mentioned the summer trip, I packed it to... I dunno, I guess I planned to splurge a little bit."

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "How much did this cost?"

"I think that ninja waiter said $276.66," Sora replied. "She gave him three hundred and told him the rest was a tip."

"That's your _spending money_?" Roxas exclaimed. "Are you kidding me?"

Kairi lowered her Deathbringer nervously. "That was... three-tenths of my spending money," she admitted.

Sora made a sound into his hand that sounded like a spit-take; when he pulled his now-dripping away from his mouth, his face was splattered with Mythgraven milkshake. "Kairi, who the _hell_ is your dad?"

The human girl's expression looked nervous. "I don't want to talk about it," she murmured.

Everyone got the message. Sora glanced at the time - _9:30_ - and got to his feet. "Well, we'd better go see if Squall and the others are up," he mused, getting to his feet. "Shall we?"

"Yeah." The other three stood up, making sure not to forget the drinks. Sora handed out Coca-Colas, and the four of them made their way outside after grabbing their things.

They found Riku and Naminé sitting in the hall next to what seemed to be an empty platter. The two of them looked weak, and their fingers were intertwined, gripping each other tightly like they had just been attacked by a troll, a yoko, and a vampire simultaneously and then passed by a group of Yasha.

"What happened?" Sora asked.

"You two look... famished," Kairi stated.

Riku's head turned towards them. 'Turned' is actually not an appropriate word so much as 'fell'. "One way to describe it," he murmured.

"We tried to get something to eat from room service," Naminé murmured. "We ended up having to share _one_ platter of Mist Bacon. And _damn_ that was _good,_ but..." She gave a weak moan. "That ice cream yesterday didn't last."_  
_

"That was all our money," Riku murmured. "Leon isn't even awake yet, and he's going to go gunblade on us if we try to... try... wh-what... what is that?"

His gaze was locked onto the leftovers tray in Kairi's hand. The four of them turned towards each other and nodded in unspoken agreement - the ex-couple looked absolutely _pitiful_. Kairi turned back and set the tray down, pulling the wrapping open, before all of them handed their drinks to Riku and Naminé.

"Bon appétit," Sora insisted.

Riku glanced at the collection of leftovers. "You guys...?"

"Kurai," Kairi insisted, "just don't."

+x+x+x+

"Cecil, wake up."

The long-haired dark knight struggled to wake, glancing around. He was in the employee's lounge, and Rosa was standing over him, concerned. "What happened?"Cecil murmured. "When did I-"

"Kain told me you fell asleep in the middle of a half-sided conversation with him at three in the morning," she replied. "He brought you in here and took your post."

"I fell asleep? On duty?" Cecil pulled himself to his feet, his night armour clanking. "Did that soldier guy come back?"

Rosa shook her head. "Nothing to worry about," she assured him. "Come on, get up. It's 9:30 - I know that's only six and a half hours of sleep for you, but we need you to be on guard and you might as well be in your day armour.

+x+x+x+

"So, where to now?"

When Professor Leonheart had let them in, that was the first question that came to Sora's mind. "Well, we've still got six days of our trip left," Squall replied. "What do you guys have in mind?"

"We could work on the new _Yokai Times_ issue," Riku mused. "I mean, you've got our information on the outlaw of Wild Rose Valley. We could probably write up a decent article on that."

Naminé shook her head. "We don't have enough info for a proper article," she replied. "I mean, yeah, Firion and the Longinus siblings and Guy were kind of surprising, but just that they're _there_ is not enough for us to write a good story on it. We didn't even find out what they _are_. All we know is that they're not human - not the way they were fighting."

"I think they were hiding something," Kairi mused. "The way they were stopping us from going any further... I mean, I know Leon said that it was just something they 'didn't want to find out', but when Sora just walked away from him-"

"Because he got his manga back," Naminé chuckled.

"Not the point," Kairi insisted. "Don't talk about that. Clawslinger being an otaku is just _weird_. Anyways, when Sora just left him alone after the fight, he seemed kind of... I don't know, relieved. Like he was glad we hadn't gone further. It was... suspicious."

Roxas and Xion were quiet until the others turned to them. "What do you guys think?" Riku prompted. "You guys see anything strange in the way Firion and Guy were fighting?"

"Guy was all on the defensive," Roxas murmured. "When we were fighting him together, he wasn't attacking us - he was focused on forcing us back."

"And Firion was all about long strikes," Xion prompted. "If you wanted to avoid it, you needed to go way back. That's what he was going for."

Riku narrowed his gaze. "So... back to the valley, then?"

Kairi nodded. "We need more information. What better source of info than the origin of the need?"

+x+x+x+

The bus had to stop on the way to Wild Rose Valley on account of a flat tire.

Kairi was rather amazed that the Yokai Academy student bus could even end up _with_ a flat. The bus driver got up, murmuring something about never using that spare, before stepping outside. Kairi muttered angrily into the back cover of Sora's _Chibi Vampire_ volume 3 before handing it to Sora, who already had volume 4 ready to switch with her.

There was a loud shout from outside.

Everyone's gaze snapped out to see the bus driver gazing at the front tire with a look of shock. Considering how completely and utterly emotionless he was most of the time, his expression was basically a huge neon sign in gold and cobalt in an unlit black room that screamed _Mulch just got some sort of_ _**reeeeeaaaaal.**_

Kairi was off the bus faster than Riku could say _Black Butler_. "What happened?" she prompted.

The driver only pointed at the wheels on the bus, which were definitely _not_ in any condition to be going round and round. The rings of rubber were _alight_, the rear wheel on the passeger side had already been _melted_ from the _inside_ _edge._ The others were all burning on the inside, and trying to pull them off would be subjecting your hands to a bath in hot rubber.

Xion stepped out with Riku, shocked at the damage. She reached towards the flames on one of the wheels, and as Kairi watched the fire receded against her touch, compressing against the steel rims and evaporating when she touched the metal. She pulled away painfully, revealing a burn mark on her palm - and the flames reignited without warning.

"That's no ordinary flame," the snowgirl murmured. "Where are we?" she prompted, turning to the bus driver.

"Thirty minutes from Wild Rose Valley, on foot. We passed a maintenance station, but without a vehicle it will take three hours to get there."

Riku swore. "You know what? Screw this. Come on, guys, let's start walking." He turned away and did so. Naminé, Roxas, and Sora stumbled off of the bus to see what had happened to the wheels.

Kairi and Xion rose, trading glances, before starting after him, causing the others to follow suit.

+x+x+x+

When they arrived at Wild Rose Valley, Riku was several paces ahead.

So when he fell into the earth and _vanished_, everyone wisely came to a stop.

The five of them spun round, looking for an opponent; then they took battle stances back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back. There was no presence - no Leon, no Maria, no Firion or Guy. The area was empty.

Kairi took a single step forward and spoke, to whoever might be there to listen. "Listen from the shadows, you'll only hear lies," she called. "Speak of the devil, and Pandaemonium shall rise."

There was silence...

Silence...

Then Leon's voice echoed; "Why don't you save him the trouble?"

With a sharp vibration, the earth below the group's feet gave way, causing them all to shout as they fell into what looked to be a tunnel. The walls of the trap were lined with ice - but it was ice the colour of fire, and it gave off heat as they fell. Everyone was trying to right themselves so they could land safely when the tunnel divided into three.

Kairi and Xion fell down one path.

Roxas and Naminé fell through another.

Sora grabbed the divider, trying to angle himself; then it shattered, and he fell through the third slot in the trap.

+x+x+x+

"Speak of the devil, huh? Speak of the devil, and Pandaemonium shall rise, you _seriously_ thought that was a good idea?"

Kairi grit her teeth. The fall had been eased by a slope in the tunnel, causing them to arrive at level ground relatively unharmed, but her entire body was battered, and there was a suspicious pain in her left shoulder that implied she had run into the tunnels' dividers.

"Give me a break," Kairi murmured. "I thought Leon might show himself if I threw the quote back at him. Sue me."

"You know, I'm tempted to," Xion snapped back.

Kairi glanced around. The area seemed to be a solid cell, but she could feel a draft nearby. "Would you do me a favour and help me up?" she pleaded. "We need to find a way out, and we can't do that if I'm on the ground."

Xion grudgingly brought Kairi to her feet, and the two of them glanced around. "I don't see how you think there's a way out," Xion mused. "This place is dead end empty."

"Shh," Kairi prompted. "Can you feel that?"

The snowgirl fell quiet for a moment. "Feel what?"

The draft was faint, so Kairi wasn't surprised that Xion couldn't feel it through her cloak. "Just... hold on..." She reached for the sleeve of her shirt and pulled, tearing off a small scrap of fabric. She pinched it between two fingers and held it still - and Xion was surprised when she saw it drift to one side.

"I need a mist," Kairi muttered, dropping the scrap of fabric. "Like, perfume, or bug spray, or..." A sudden chill touched Kairi's leg, and she turned to see the finest of snow crystals falling from Xion's hand.

"Or diamond dust?" she prompted.

Kairi nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, diamond dust'll work."

Xion raised her hand higher, and the diamond dust started to spread around her en masse. Kairi led her to the wall, and Xion brought her hand near the stone surface, letting the fine ice tremor past the wall. It fell flat for most of it, but at one point Kairi saw it slip in - straight into the wall.

"Here," Kairi murmured. "There's... a fake surface here. It's so dark I can't see it, but there's gotta be a seam here somewhere. Can you give me some light?"

The snow continued to trail from Xion's left hand as she raised her right, and a ball of cold flame ignited. In the flickering light, it was hard to tell, but Kairi was able to feel out the seam. Xion traded her diamond dust for a wrap of ice claws, sharpening them to fine points and slipping them into the wall - and then, shocking Kairi, the stone cracked, tore, and eventually shattered, shards of rock falling as Xion let the claws fade.

The duo found themselves stepping into what looked like a basement passage. Xion winced, setting her unlit hand against her head, and Kairi turned to her. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"I just... this place feels really... strangely familiar," Xion murmured. She raised her gaze. "But that's impossible. We're still under Wild Rose Valley... aren't we?"

Kairi lowered her gaze. "Save him the trouble," she whispered to herself. "Leon said that like we were taking a trip to Pandaemonium itself. You don't think...?"

"No. No. _No._ Absolutely _not_. This is earthen stone. The Palace of the Underworld is supposed to be crafted from crystals that shine like moonlight. If this was Pandaemonium, you wouldn't have needed the icefire to see." Xion shook her head. "Besides, I'm saying that out of a mythology book. I _recognize_ **something** about this place. So we can't be dead."

"Fair enough," Kairi agreed.

A sound emerged like a door being thrown open, and some kind of gale force stormed from the other end of the tunnel. Kairi gave a yelp - this was an _icy_ wind, one that chilled her to the bone and sent a sudden surge of awareness through her body.

She caught sight of someone standing at the far end - a figure silhouetted against the icy light coming from the other side, a staff of some sort in their hands. The fighter whirled the staff around like a martial artist, spinning once left and once right before slamming the staff to the ground, causing whatever barrier had opened to slam shut again - and the wind faded, the chill transforming into icy crystals that lined the tunnel and illumnated the darkness.

The staff was in the hands of a woman - a woman in bright pink, with soft light skin that was not tanned nor pale, and long brown hair like a river of earth, as thought the planet itself had given her the most natural beauty known. Her eyes were like emeralds, glowing with some kind of Gaia force, and a single pink ribbon was wrapped around her hair.

Her gaze was a kind of peaceful rage; but slowly, that rage faded from her face, replaced with a look of shock - and when she called out, her voice was one of surprise.

"Xion?"

Kairi turned to the snowgirl at her side, who reacted to the voice with a shocked turn, facing the woman who stood there.

"_Mom?_"

* * *

Draco: **_Yes_**, I just did that, bitches! Get it memorized!


	17. Ruby Flow Beneath Sapphire Skies

Draco: Yes, that sounds cruel. Yes, that may end up _being_ cruel. I've had this conversation with FFN thrice now, I was supposed to _start_ the Wild Rose Valley arc with this chapter name! Ah, third time's the charm! Explains why FFIII is so good... Also, remember chapter 1? When Sora was talking about Cloud? Keep that in mind.

Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 17: Ruby Flow Beneath Sapphire Skies**

Naminé opened her eyes to see Roxas sitting next to a small flame, an intent look on his face. As she struggled to get to her feet, a sharp pain shot through her leg, and she yelped and fell back over, causing Roxas to turn. The flame started to flicker.

"Try not to put too much weight on that," he warned. "You landed on it kind of badly."

"I noticed," Naminé murmured. She reached for her sketchbook, only to find it missing. "Wha-? Where's my book? Where's my sketchbook?"

Roxas sighed. "I don't know," he admitted. "You must have dropped it during the fall. I'm sorry, Naminé."

Naminé grit her teeth. "Brilliant," she murmured. "Now I'm completely defenseless."

"Defenseless?" Roxas prompted. "You're a witch. Can't you just make yourself a weapon like you did with Maria?"

"Every spellcaster needs a magic object," Naminé informed him. "Without that, we can't channel our magic. Now I don't have one and I'm well and truly _screwed_."

A sigh passed through Roxas' lips. He held out his hand, and Naminé accepted it, struggling to get to her feet. He draped her arm over her shoulder and helped her stand. "Where are we?" she prompted.

Roxas glanced around. "Some kind of underground pit. Looks like a dead end..." At Naminé's expression, he added, "but not likely."

"How do you know?" Naminé asked.

"I was testing the walls earlier," Roxas replied. His dark cold Keyblade appeared in his right hand. "Here, listen." He tapped the walls, crossing the surface and moving up and down until he hit a hollow spot. "We need to break through right here," he stated. "There's some kind of tunnel behind here. If we get through, there should be no trouble."

Naminé was impressed. "So how do we break through?" she asked.

Roxas grit his teeth. "Well... I'm not sure. I could just melt through, but then we'd have a pool of molten rock to deal with. Maybe..." An idea lit his sea-blue eyes up gold. "I've got an idea." He stepped back, setting Naminé down against the wall. "Wait here."

He took a few steps back and raised his Keyblade - and fire began to wrap around it, sparks that looked like blazing snow spiralling around the shaft as a sphere of raw pyrous energy gathered at the teeth of the Key.

A bolt of fire flew from Roxas' weapon, hit the wall, and _exploded_.

Naminé yelped, raising her hands to protect herself as the wall clattered to the ground. Roxas smirked, faded his Key, and held out his hand for Naminé again, leading her into what appeared to be a tunnel.

"What is this?" the witch murmured. "It looks like we're... in a basement."

"Not sure," Roxas admitted. He winced. "Something about this place is kind of... strange. Almost... familiar.

Naminé's eyes widened. "When Kairi said, Pandaemonium shall rise... you remember what Leon said? He said 'save him the trouble'. You think...?"

"No. No. _No._ Absolutely _not. _This is earthen stone. The Palace of the Underworld is supposed to be crafted from crystals that shine like moonlight. If this was Pandaemonium, we wouldn't have needed the fire to see." Roxas shook his head. "Besides, I'm saying that out of a mythology book. There no way I would recognize Pandaemonium. That... doesn't make any sense."

There was a sudden heated wind, causing witch and yoko to both react; Naminé raised a hand before her, while Roxas spread his cloak to protect her from the heat. At the end of the tunnel, some kind of door had opened, and standing there was now a figure with his arms out like he was barring their way. The bright blue garments that covered his body were decorated with two sharp pauldrons and a pair of belts around his waist, and dark black hair spiked back behind him, with a few loose strands dangling in front. His face was obscured, but there was a straight-edged longsword on his back.

Roxas recognized the figure - and now he knew where that heat was coming from.

"Zack?"

The heat stopped, the soldier at the end of the tunnel lowered his stance, and torches lit up across the tunnel, revealing his face - half-tanned skin and sky-blue eyes.

"Wait a sec... _Roxas?_"

Naminé glanced at the yoko beside him. "You know this guy?"

Roxas didn't seem to notice the question; he stepped forward, and Naminé pulled herself away with the feeling that this was some kind of personal thing. The soldier, Zack, started forward, meeting Roxas halfway.

"What are you doing here?" Zack asked. "I mean, Leon said there were five, but I didn't think _you_ were part of the-"

"Wait wait wait wait _wait_," Roxas interrupted. "Wait. Longinus and Ragnarok work for _you_?"

Zack raised his hands protectively. "Hey, populated human area like this, we want to keep things safe. You know Aerith gets worried whenever someone shows any sign of proficiency with a weapon."

"And you had him go challenge our otaku?" Roxas accused. "You seriously thought that was a good idea? He's an Ifrit-freezing _vampire!_"

"Leon was _never_ supposed to leave," Zack insisted. "He's a blood knight and he's always looking for a challenge. Me, Maria, and Firion have _all_ already told him off for challenging your vampire buddy. Holy Shiva, you should've seen his face after that fight."

Roxas angled his head from side to side. "Yeah, he was kinda freaked out."

Zack chuckled. "Hey, you want to introduce me to your friend here?" he prompted. "She looks kind of worried."

"Oh, right." Roxas turned back to the witch. "Sorry, Naminé. He stepped towards her and help her walk. "Zack, this is Naminé Kioku. She's a witch and an artist and she's got a thing for spider webs. And she's _good_ with it. Naminé, this is Zack Fair. He's a bit of a... veteran."

"Shinra Electric Power Company ex-SOLDIER, first class," Zack admitted. "Lot of battles. Not a lot of breaks. I couldn't even go to the beach without turning an umbrella into a weapon."

Naminé was impressed. "You worked for _Shinra_ before that whole hell-twist?" she prompted.

Zack was confused. "Hell-twist...? Oh, you mean that Makonoid scandal. Yeah, Rufus was keeping things in the background _of the background_. Even first-class SOLDIERs couldn't get in on that. When I see him again, I'm going to smack him. In the arm. With a sword."

"Ouch."

"Yeah." Zack shook his head to clear it. "Anyways, Roxas. How's Xion doing? She still got everything under control in there?"

Roxas' gaze shot up. "Oh, shit, _Shi-oh_!" he muttered. "We got split up in that drop-trap Leon sprung on us. She's gotta be somewhere in here. _Please_ tell me you don't have Leon in this thing!"

Zack had a look of horror on his face. "Bahamut SIN," he muttered. "Knowing him, he's gotta be in here whether I told him or not."

Naminé was confused. "Wait, how do you know Xion?" she asked. The question caused Zack to turn to her with a protective look on his face.

"She's my daughter."

+x+x+x+

"_Mom?_"

The exclamation caused Kairi to glance between Xion and the newcomer with a look of horror. "You just... did you just... you didn't just-!"

Xion hardly noticed. She and the woman at the other end of the tunnel starting towards each other, catching each other halfway through in a tight embrace. "Mom, when the _hell_ did you guys connect to Wild Rose Valley like this?"

"Xion, what are you doing here?" the woman countered. "I haven't seen you and Roxas in _ages!_ Has anything happened? You didn't get burned like he did, did you? Did the trap get you? Are you alright?"

Kairi was confused. She leaned back against the wall. "I don't even _know_ anymore," she murmured.

The two pulled away and turned to Kairi. Xion stepped forward, catching the human girl's hand. "Kairi, I'm sorry, I'm being rude. Come on."

Her mother stepped forward. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Aerith Gainsborough. I'm Xion's mother. My apologies for the trap. Leon reported intruders in Wild Rose Valley and we had to take precautionary measures."

"You mean to tell me that blood knight works for _you?_" Kairi prompted, taking a step back.

"Firion insisted he needed to relax and stay with them," Aerith replied. "I hired him, Maria, and Guy as guards so that we wouldn't be attacked without knowing. Leon came by once with his whole axe-and-sword setup and I guess the three of them know him. Firion and Maria have told him off for it time and time again. I think Zack even confronted him once or tw-"

"Dad!" Xion exclaimed. "Is dad here with you? And where's _Rokusasu_? We got split up in that trap. Is he alright?"

Aerith's gaze became one of shock. "Sweet Meteorfall," she murmured, "if Roxas is in here, and Leon's in here, I don't know _what's _going to happen."

+x+x+x+

Sora had been stuck in his end of the pit for several minutes. He had no source of light, so he had no way of knowing how to get out. He had tried climbing up the slope they had passed through, but it got too steep too soon and he had fallen right back in. He had found Naminé's sketchbook, but with no source of light he couldn't even look inside.

Eventually, he decided to just sit down and sulk.

That was when his rosario lit up.

_Excellent trap you've got us into._

"Yeah, yeah, shut up, smart guy. Got any bright ideas on how to get out?"

The clawslinger was about to reply when the wall Sora was leaning on exploded. The Keyslinger yelped and hit the ground, arcing into a roll and spinning round, his Keyblade flaring into his hand as he turned.

There was a torch there, in the hand of somebody with a dragon wingblade.

"Riku?" Sora called.

"Sora!" Riku stepped forward, only to find he was in an empty pit. The werewolf scowled. "All roads lead to nowhere, huh?"

_Well, that's one way of putting it._

"Shut up," Sora snapped, tapping his rosario violently.

"Excuse me?" Riku prompted.

"Not you," Sora replied. "Where's this one go?" he prompted, pointing down where Riku had come from.

"Down a hallway with a lot of empty rooms," Riku complained.

Sora rolled his eyes. "Amateur," he muttered, stepping past him and taking the torch from his hand.

Riku turned. "Excuse me?"

"Come on, you didn't think it was going to be that easy, did you?" Sora prompted.

They made their way down the hall. Many of the 'empty rooms' Riku had mentioned had other rooms connected to them, and before long they were weaving their way through one _hell_ of a labyrinth. One of those rooms happened to be a dining hall.

"Don't even think about it," Riku and Sora told each other at once. "I wasn't," they replied simultaneously. "Good," they finished.

Several doors later, they found themselves at what seemed to be a ballroom - a massive golden ballroom with a skylight, revealing the shining sky above them - the sun was setting somewhere they couldn't see, so the sky looked like a massive gem - pure, undiluted sapphire. The two of them gave impressed whistles at the size of it. "Looks like something out of a fairy tale," Sora mused.

Riku snickered. "Are you kidding? Looks like something a pair of Cyclopes could dance in."

"We don't have Cyclopes here."

Both of them turned to see Leon Longinus standing there against the closed doors, axe clipped to the back of his belt, sword at his hip on his right. There was also a spear strapped to his back - a massive polearm that was shining cobalt and trimmed with bloodred. His armour was gone - he was standing in cobalt garments with his robe draped over his shoulders.

"But I'll be more than happy to hunt a wolf and a vampire."

The wolf and vampire in question took battle stances, weapons flaring into their hands. "Leon!"

Longinus only smirked, his gaze narrowing at the two of them. "You two... you look kinda dirty."

A faint hissing sound emerged around them, and Riku snapped around. _Snakes?_ he wondered. _This guy's got **snakes**?_

"I don't suppose I can blame you," Leon admitted. "Tunnel through the earth... not the cleanest trap, I'll admit."

Sora's eyes widened. _He can't know..._

Leon smirk widened into a menacing dark grin.

"Why don't you two... wash off."

The hiss rose above them, bursting into a flare of clear liquid from a series of pipes snaking above them.

"I'll be nice and bring the shower to you!"

The first drops fell towards Sora, and Riku could already hear something sparking - like an electric charge suspended between two conductors.

_Is that just... **water?**_

The water connected with the vampire's skin.

And Sora Kingdom gave a tortured scream.

+x+x+x+

Xion, Aerith, and Kairi heard Sora's shout all the way in their end of the pit. Xion reacted instantly, whirling around where they had come from with a look of utter and complete horror on her face.

"No. No, no, no no no no _no! **SORA!**_" The snowgirl took off at lightning speed, racing through the tunnel with Kairi hot on her heels. Aerith chased after them, but she was nowhere near fast enough to keep up, and she could only watch as Xion raised her left hand, sending icefire blasting at the wall. It struck and formed, creating a platform just wide enough for two people to stand on if they stood straight, and she leapt on and swept her hand down. Kairi leapt after her, her stomach slamming into the edge as the ice _expanded,_ shooting upwards like Pandaemonium come from the underworld itself.

Kairi scrambled to pull herself onto the ice; Xion lent her a hand and dragged her up on the surface as it rose.

Roxas, Naminé, and Zack had heard the vampire's scream as well. "Sora!" the two Yokai students had shouted, racing through the tunnel. Zack chased after them, flames spitting across his feet, but the ex-SOLDIER was out of practice; Roxas and Naminé were far ahead, and as he watched Roxas swept Naminé up in his arms, a raw fire burning around his feet as he shot into the air on a cushion of flame. They flew through the air, arriving at the trap-shaft's divisor at the same time as Xion and Kairi leapt off their ice platform.

"This way!" they all shouted, diving into the third tunnel.

+x+x+x+

As Sora had hit the ground, Leon had drawn his blade and axe, leaving the spear on his back. Riku grit his teeth and braced the dragon wingblade next to his eyes, fur starting to race up his arms. His shoes shattered as his feet twisted into massive canine paws, and his face elongated as fur wrapped around it; even without the full moon, Riku was a _werewolf_, and now he gave a howl of bloody murder as he shot forward.

Leon raced his axe forward, catching Riku's strike on his axe, and flicked up what appeared to be a switch on the hilt of his sword.

"I'm sorry, wolfie."

The water on the blade began to steam, and Riku saw the metal turn red-hot.

"But I don't go down that easy."

Leon's blade _ignited,_ a horrific flame searing across the metal, and he lashed out with a blazing uppercut. Riku arced into a backflip, landing on his hands and then his feet three times before coming to a stop next to the screaming Sora in the time it took Leon to finish his strike. The werewolf cursed into a growl - he had no way to protect Sora from the water - if he didn't move fast and find a way to stop the flow, the vampire could very well die and Kairi, Xion, and Naminé would probably send the werewolf after him. On the other hand, Leon was obviously going to try and strike Sora down if he didn't go on the defensive - Sora was at a stalemate here.

The dark knight grit his teeth demonically as he stepped forward - and his clothes started tearing, demonic spikes arcing across the sides. Riku's canine eyes widened as he watched Leon's arms and shoulders twist into spiked pauldrons and gauntlets forged of skin, and his cranium became adorned into horns that arced back like a helmet.

_A monstrel,_ Riku muttered. _Son of a bitch._

Leon shot forward.

Riku shot forward.

The two blades connected at the halfway point, and shadow and fire erupted around them in a shockwave, sending the water flying upwards from the sheer force of the combatants.

It was then that the doors flew open, and Riku saw Naminé, Xion, Kairi, and Roxas standing there in that order from their right, witnessing the battle and the fallen vampire that stood there.

Xion _erupted_, icy fire storming around her as she raised her right hand and ice wrapped claws around it. The water in the air flash-froze, forming a beautiful web of snowflake-pattern ice across the roof. Roxas raised his left hand and sent a bolt of flame towards Leon, sending him flying across the area, over Riku and Sora and collapsing on the other end of the ballroom.

Kairi shot forward, slipping and stumbling upon the water on the floor until she arrived at Sora's side. She helped him rise to a half-kneel and brought him close, pressing his head against her neck. "Bite," she commanded.

Sora weakly opened his mouth, and his teeth sharpened into fangs that he sank into her neck.

It was then that a flaming blade came flying towards them, and Kairi screamed as it slashed across her side and sent her flying towards the others as blood was torn across the floor.

Leon was standing again, the monstrel spikes across his body _elongating_, his arm out after a throw. He rose to a straight stance and tore the lance off his back with his left hand, whirling it around his palm and knuckled before bracing it at his side like an unholy dragoon.

"A taste of hell may be just what you need."

He shot forward, leaping over Sora.

The Yokai group moved fast; Naminé rushed forward, helping the burnt Kairi to her feet as Roxas and Xion took action. Xion was able to force the liquid off of Sora before wrapping him in a protective dome of ice several times over. Then she lashed her left hand down as Roxas lashed his right, and their shine-and-shadow Keyblades flared into their hands, the light kanji upon the teeth of Xion's and the dark kanji upon the teeth of Roxas' spiking into view.

Wings of angel closed around Xion's left hand.

Wings of demon closed around Roxas' right.

And a raw, monstrous force tore through the air between them, bringing everything to a standstill.

Kairi was on her feet, vampyric darkness burning around her, the cut across her side closing, the burnt flesh around and within it healing immediately. Her fire-red hair was crossed by a thousand eclipses, shadowing unto the colour of heated obsidian, and her fingernails were twisting, becoming sharpened claws the shape of pin tumbler keys.

Two fang marks in the side of her neck closed instantly.

Leon swore with a ferocity that scared him. "Oh shit, don't tell me _you're..._?!"

Kairi's eyes snapped open, blazing with the fire of a thousand hells.

Her left hand lashed to her right side.

Her right hand lashed to her left side.

And she _tore_ the Keys out of Roxas and Xion's hands, whirling them around her and yielding sparks all to hell.

Then she shot forward, and Mulch got some sort of _reeeeaaaal_.

A single cross-strike from the twin Keys in her hands were more than enough to send Leon flying, his weapons left behind in the air in front of Kairi as he crashed into Sora's dome of ice and fell forward. Kairi lashed out, throwing Xion's Key from her left hand in a whirling blow as Sora always did and slamming it into Leon before arcing into a spin and hurling Roxas' Key in the same manner. The two strikes were more than enough to shatter several of the monstrel spikes across Leon's body, tearing a scream from his lips and causing blood to flow from the fracture points.

Kairi didn't stop there.

The Keys returned to her hands, and she hurled them again.

Light. Dark. Light. Dark. Kairi continued to throw the weapons, continuing forward in constant spins, ripping horrified screams from Leon and sending his blood splattering across the floor. Angel. Demon. Angel. Demon. The teeth cut into his skin, tearing constant wounds across him.

Light.

Dark.

Then Kairi was close enough to lash out with an uppercut flip-kick that sent Leon flying.

She let the Keys hit the floor and vanish as she shot into the air after him, grabbing him by the back of his shirt and hurling him into the ground. She whirled through the air and slammed a falling kick into him that sounded a deadly crack. She whirled into a backflip and grabbed him again, smearing his blood across the floor as she hurled him towards the other end of the ballroom and shot after him. Leon hit the wall with enough force to fall two metres forward and tried to get to his feet.

Kairi punched him in the face. Then she kicked him between the greaves. Then she slammed an uppercut into his stomach, causing him to fall back and putting him in the perfect position for a straight kick that knocked him against the wall again. He found his nose on the recieving end of a powerful elbowing; then his legs received separate, shattering blows; a knee slammed into that of his left leg, and a kick fragmented his right lower leg. The power-driven Kairi slammed a fist into his ribs, shattering several before she lashed out with a high kick to the jaw that send him skidding up the wall.

As he fell, Leon found fingers closing around his neck.

The dark knight, already on the verge of unconsciousness - if not death - struggled for air, his fingers scrambling across Kairi's as she continued to choke what life remained out of him. The demonic bloodred in her eyes, the catslit pupils that bore into his soul, were hellious in themselves, and with impossible power she spun round, away from the wall, and Leon to be thrown to the ground.

The ice behind her shattered.

A hand struck out against her forearm.

"That's enough, Kairi."

Kairi raised her gaze to see Sora standing there. His hair was coursed jet-black, flaming orange rising from the root but not reaching the tip. His own fingernails were cut into pin tumbler claws, and his eyes of bloodred, ringed with gold to separate iris from pupil, locked with her own flaming eyes.

"Let him go."

Leon fell from Kairi's grasp.

Then the human girl fell to the ground, and something clattered out of her left hand.

It was Sora's rosario.

Xion was in shock. "Sora... what just happened?"

The clawslinger reached down and picked up the fallen rosario, glancing across the area.

"Kairi tried to get me to drink her blood. She knew it always helped recover from when the water drains my power. But I could feel the danger coming towards her. Not me. So I injected her with my blood while I had the chance. And she already had her hand around the rosario - so when she was sent flying, it came off without even trying."

He sighed, glancing towards the fallen Keys.

"Power comes from powerful emotions. The sight of me on the ground under a constant flow of water was more than enough to enrage Kairi to the point that she could cut that dark knight in half give her the dull edge of a brick. Being attacked on her own, combined with the effects of my blood, and he was fool's play to take down."

His gaze raised to Xion.

"You couldn't tell with that ice barrier you forged around me... but I saw everything. _I'm_ the one... who saw _everything_."

Roxas glanced at the light and dark Keys on the ground. "But how... how did she use _our_ Keyblades?" he prompted.

"Because you let her."

The yoko reacted to that.

"You wanted that dark knight taken down just as much as she did. That was more than enough for your hearts to let the Keys be wielded by another - if only for a short while."

He smirked. "You two gotta learn how to keep your hands on those things," he snarked. "If you're gonna let them go that easy, you might as well give 'em to her proper."

"Shut up," Roxas snapped.

The clawslinger shrugged. "Then make me wrong."

The dark Key vanished from the ground and reappeared in Roxas' hand, raised at Sora.

The light Key vanished from the ground and reappeared in Xion's hand, crossing her back as she turned away.

"That's more like it," Sora mused, closing the rosario onto his chain; and everyone watched as the darkness around him faded.

It was then that Kairi managed to get to her feet, causing everyone to turn. The human girl looked like a wreck, struggling to rise, prompting Naminé, Roxas, and Xion to rush forward and help her to her feet. Once they were sure she could stand on her own, Xion stepped away and turned toward Sora, snapping her ice-clawed fingers in his face to try and get him to wake.

"Sora," she prompted. "Sora, _wake up._"

The Keyslinger's eyes opened.

"That was uncomfortable," he murmured, setting a hand to his head.

A crack above them caused them to turn to see the ice that Xion had formed across the roof _pulling itself open_. Two figures dropped down from there - one in a bright dress and the other in rather militant gear. They hit the ground simultaneously - one had a rather arcane staff in her hand, the other a longsword across his back.

Zack and Aerith got to their feet, turning to face the group.

Sora reacted in shock.

"_Aerith?_"

Xion's mother's eyes widened.

"_Sora?!_"

* * *

Draco: When in doubt... monstrels.

This is getting long. Not long compared to the previous chapter, but still fairly long. So, _so_ sorry about the cliffhangers these days, guys! This is what we call a story arc.


	18. Jade Gaze In Pearl Moonlight

Draco: Alright, time for some proper backstory. Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 18: Jade Gaze In Pearl Moonlight**

_"Sora?"_

_The young vampire turned to see Aerith standing there, worriedly. He had lived with Cloud and Aerith for several months now, and much considered them family. "Ms. Gainsborough?" he asked. "Something wrong?"_

_Aerith smiled softly at him, shaking her head. "No, nothing's wrong, Sora. Do you know where Cloud is?"_

_"Mr. Strife said he was doing a delivery," Sora replied. "It was a big package. He needed the sidecar."_

_"I see," Aerith mused._

_"Do you need him for something?" Sora asked._

_"No," Aerith replied. "It's just... I need to go on a trip for a while. I want you to tell Cloud that I'm gone, okay?"_

_Sora nodded. "Yeah. I can do that. Don't worry."_

_Aerith smiled and gave Sora a tight hug, sending a chill down his spine like she always did. "Will you be alright?" she asked._

_"Sure."_

_"Good." The snow fairy got to her feet and stepped out of the house._

_Sora smiled after her for a moment before his gaze fell to a frown. "Wait, Ms. Gainsborough," he called, chasing after her, "how are you..."_

_He came to a stop as he opened the door - because Aerith was already gone, vanished into thin air._

+x+x+x+

That was the last time Sora had seen Aerith in ten years.

Now here she was, in the ballroom of this underground labyrinth, with an arcane staff in hand. Her beauty hadn't been diluted by the years she had been gone, and her eyes still had the same cold stare that they always had. At her side was a militant figure who resembled Cloud just a little bit too much - the spikes of his hair were styled differently, and jet-black rather than field blond, but he had the same sky-blue eyes, the same stance with that blade in his hands.

"_Aerith?_"

"_Sora?!_"

The two stood there, paralyzed in fear. Xion reacted to that turn of events, glancing between the two of them. "Sora," she exclaimed, "you know my mom?"_  
_

Sora's body straightened so fast he heard something crack, and he turned to Xion. "Your _mom..._? Wait, _Aerith Gainsborough_ is your _mother?!_"

The soldier at Aerith's side turned to her. "Aerith, what's going on here?"

"Zack, not now," Aerith scolded. "Sora, how are you-?"

"Wait, wait, wait," Sora snapped. "_Zack__?!_ As in, Zack _Fair?_ Shinra's first-class _SOLDIER_? Cloud told me you were reported killed in action twenty years ago!"_  
_

Zack reacted. "You know Cloud Strife?"

"I've lived with him for as long as I can remember!" Sora shouted. "Where in Pandaemonium _were_ you?!"

Xion had a look of horror on her face. "I... I... I... Dad, you _what?!_"

"_Dad?_" Sora spun round to her. "_Zack Fair_ is your _father? **What the-**_"

"Enough!"

Kairi's shout as she stepped forward, throwing her hands out as though to seperate everybody, was enough to bring the constant shouting to a standstill. As she looked around the group, nothing more than her focused glare was enough to cause the Yokai group to each take a step back, and when her gaze moved to Aerith and Zack, they, too, stepped away, unsure what kind of creature could keep this many monsters tame with not but a look.

She lowered her hands and turned to Zack and Aerith. "Miss... Gainsborough? Mr. Fair? This area is hardly ideal for this many people to be having a conversation of this sort without resulting in bloodshed." Glancing at the various crimson stains across the floor, she added, if only to herself, "And, frankly, I've seen more than enough blood for one day."

Turning back to the two, she continued, "In addition, the skies grow dark, and I can't be the only one who's feeling tired. Why don't we discuss this somewhere more... civilized. A dining room, a rec room, something to that effect?"

Aerith nodded. "Very well. Come with us."

+x+x+x+

The group found themselves at a dining room with an empty table. Sora excused himself from the gathering under the terms of needing to call Professor Leonheart about their location - Zack pointed out the telephone sitting near the door, leaving Sora to pull the cord into the hallway and make the call. Kairi took a seat at one end of the table. Aerith took a seat at the other, and Zack only leaned against the wall nearby, arms crossed.

"Sorry we're here without a meal," Aerith prompted. "I'm sure you must all be rather hungry."

Xion shook her head. "Kairi has a fistful of hundred-dollar bills and is kind to the room service. We're all good."

"I see."

There was quiet for a long moment. Then Sora stepped back in, hanging up the phone, and spoke - to Aerith first.

"Okay, talk," he prompted, not sitting down. "Last time I saw you was when the door closed at Cloud's place. Ten. _Years._ Ago. I opened that thing not two seconds later and you were already vanished into thin air. Cloud thought you were _dead_. We found _nothing_ to prove him wrong."

Aerith sighed. "Sora... I don't want to-"

"Don't give me that crap, Gainsborough," Sora snapped. "I want answers."

Xion wanted to stop Sora from treating her mom like that, but there was something dark in his eyes - a gold undertone to the sea blue that reminded her too much of the clawslinger. Aerith was quiet for several moments before she spoke.

"Zack and I have been together since before you came to Cloud's place," she replied. "I'd been visiting Cloud for several years - he's always been... distant, damaged. Like he'd never known rest."

"He worked for Shinra for a while," Zack added. "Things were always kind of damaging there."

Aerith nodded. "When you showed up, Sora, I had stayed with him for a while because he needed help - a new life in the house was something he needed to adjust to. When I saw he was getting used to it, I knew I had lingered for too long. I..." She winced. "I had a child of my own to raise."

Sora's gaze drifted to Xion, who let her head fall.

"Xion," Sora mused.

"Yes," Aerith replied. "Zack's child."

"Something's off here." Sora's gaze drifted to Zack. "You were in _SOLDIER_. Cloud told me those guys would kill anyone who posed anything of a threat. Not to the people - to the _business_. How the hell'd you get in there with a relationship?"

Zack shook his head. "I didn't," he replied. "I met Aerith on duty. She was selling flowers. How about I not bore you with the corny love story."

Sora angled his head about two degrees to either side. "I can agree to that."

"Zack and I were... a problem couple," Aerith admitted. "There weren't many other monsters around to let in on who we were. _What_ we were. And those who we could tell... shunned us away."

"What for?" Sora asked.

A heat on the back of his neck answered his question.

Everyone yelped, pulling away as Sora turned. Zack was standing there, flames wrapped around his hand. His sky-blue eyes were closed, and as Sora watched the flames receded, and Zack closed his fingers before opening his eyes.

"You're a yoko," Sora exclaimed.

"Yeah," Zack replied. "I won't say I was the only monster at Shinra, but for a while I was an outcast among them. Everyone was going completely troll-shit when they found out I was dating a snow fairy." He sighed. "They kept spitting insults at me like acid rain. 'You're just askin' to melt her! What, are you gonna burn her flowers if she leaves you?' It stung the worst when they started insulting... what our offspring would be."

Sora grit his teeth. "Don't tell me...?"

Aerith nodded. "They kept saying... we were going to make a monstrel. That our child would be a criminal waiting to be forged." She winced. "And when Xion was conceived... I prayed, to Shiva, to Asura herself... that they would be wrong."

The anger in Sora's eyes had long faded by now. "Then Xion..." He raised his gaze to the Yokai snowgirl, who had her eyes closed and her head bowed. "Child of a snowgirl and a yoko..."

Zack gave a grunt of anger. "And the worst part: _it didn't help worth **shit.**_ Xion might not be a monstrel, but she's far from your average snow fairy. I mean, she has the usual icebending, but what makes her... _her_ is her icefire. She doesn't need water to freeze in order to act offensively. Everyone was calling her a freak of nature. A fake monstrel. A_nightmare_, born of demons risen from Pandaemonium, and angels fallen from Raqia. Never Xion."

Tears were starting to flow down Xion's face as Zack spoke. "Never Xion..."

"Then Roxas showed up," Aerith replied. "He was lost, and wounded. He didn't care what Xion was. What we were. Even though he never showed us what _he_ was, he didn't mind. He cared for Xion like she _should_ be cared for, trying to protect her from the insults. When Xion was ten years old, she and Roxas ran off, looking for trouble." There was a sad smile on her face as she said that. "That was the last I saw of her until Leon sprung the trap, and she and Kairi landed in my end of the pit."

Roxas was looking uncomfortable as Aerith spoke, in the seat next to Xion's, but slowly, he reached over and set is hand upon hers.

Aerith turned to Sora. "I'm sorry I never came back, Sora," she prompted. "I was trapped between fire and flame. Please, understand."

"You don't need to worry about that," Sora insisted. "I understand."

Zack turned to the others around the table, all of whom were completely silent. "So why don't you introduce us to the rest of your friends!" he called. "The lot of you look like you'd throw a party all the way to Midgar."

Sora smirked as Zack's approval. "Well, let's start with the silver-haired canine over there," he replied, beckoning to Riku, who was near Kairi. "Riku Kurai: predictable, naive, overly judgmental, slightly flirtatious-"

"You're insulting me," Riku interrupted.

"-werewolf in the dark with a dragon wingblade," Sora finished. "Next, we have our spellcaster," he added, beckoning to Naminé."

Zack nodded. "She was with Roxas when he dropped down in my end," he mused.

"She wasn't in mine," Aerith mused. "Nice to meet you."

Naminé nodded as Sora continued. "Naminé Kioku. She's an artist, and that's a good thing, because she's a witch like waves and _limitless_ when it comes to imagination."

The witch blushed. "You're exaggerating," she insisted.

"Am I?" Sora mused. He reached under his shirt and drew out a familiar binding of art. "Why don't I show everybody these and let them decide?"

"My sketchbook!" Naminé exclaimed. Sora tossed her the book, causing her to catch it gratefully. "I thought this was lost back there!"

"Nah," Sora insisted, "I've got it."

Zack pounded Sora's shoulder. "So what about you?" he asked.

"Sora Kingdom, vampire." He kept it simple. "And finally," he mused, turning to the far end of the table, "we have the Nosferatu-slapping beauty that is sunveil Kairi Chikai."

Kairi got up, stepped over to Sora, and arced into a spinning kick that connected with Sora's groin, causing the vampire to howl and double over and bringing a round of laughter from everyone else around the table. "What the hell was that for?" Sora screeched.

"Hey," Kairi reprimanded, "everyone else was listening when I told Hayner - the next person who tries to give me a nickname involving my hair and heat is going to be treated to a roundhouse kick between the greaves. And you were the next one."

Sora muttered something like "Arghble". Zack helped him to his feet. "So, Sora, how's Cloud doin'? He still riding that Hardy-Daytona I got him?"

"Nah, he said he needed a new ride," Sora replied. "He's running a delivery survice these days. Cloud said 'a racer like that doesn't work for me'. He got a custom-made bike with blade storage and everything. He actually let me take it to Yokai Academy when I needed-"

"Hold on, Sora," Aerith insisted. "You're not giving us all the pieces here." She beckoned to Kairi, who had returned to her seat at the end of the table. "Your friend here... might I ask exactly _what_ she is?"

The last chuckles of laughter around the table vanished like a flame had just had the ocean dropped on it. Aerith immediately felt like she had touched upon a sensitive subject. "I'm sorry," she prompted, "if it's a touchy matter than-"

"I'm human."

Everything went quieter than silence in an instant. Even Sora was shocked how quickly Kairi had confessed the matter to Aerith, who had gone still.

Seven heartbeats passed.

"Human..." Aerith shook her head. "Kairi, might I ask-"

"I'm a human student of Yokai Academy," Kairi stated quickly. "I arrived by means of a freak accident simply because I didn't do enough research. I've been doing my best to keep myself as unnoticed as possible. My identity has been at risk of revelation several times over by teachers and students alike. Hell, more than once I've tried to leave because I'm _scared._"

A small smile rose on her face. "But you know what? I can _live_ with a little fear. I'm surrounded by friends. I'm getting an education. I've been trained in self-defense with weapons and without weapons. Come on, I've given everyone in this room enough fear to last a lifetime by slapping a vampire. Repeatedly." The human girl shrugged. "I'm happy at Yokai Academy."

Her smile shifted into a dark glare as she locked gazes with Aerith.

"Don't ruin it for me."

Aerith gave a smile of her own. "Don't worry, I won't," she insisted.

Kairi smiled. "Good."

"Well, then," Zack mused, "how's that for a fun time? You guys must all be exhausted - why don't we show you to the guest bedrooms and you can all rest for the night?"

"Gladly," Sora replied.

"Seconded," Kairi agreed.

"Third...ed," Riku stumbled.

"Done," Xion called.

"Done," Naminé added.

"And done," Roxas finished.

+x+x+x+

Aerith and Zack had three guest bedrooms. Kairi split them all up - Sora and Xion would share a room, she and Naminé would share a room, Riku and Roxas would share a room.

Naminé was not impressed. "Why won't you let me stay with Roxas?" she asked when they had arrived at their room.

"I set everyone up so that no one could get up to anything behind anyone's back," Kairi replied. Before Naminé could protest, she added, "and I _know_ that the clawslinger isn't going to let Sora do _anything_, so don't even ask."

As Xion and Sora settled down for the night, Sora seemed to be having a heated - if hushed - conversation with himself. Xion was about to confront him about it when Sora turned around.

"Sorry about that," he insisted. "The clawslinger's a bit... worried."

"Wait, _what_?" Xion asked. "You and the clawslinger can talk to each other like that?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah. My crown acts as a bit of an intermediary." He scratched the back of his head nervously. "Hey... sorry about freakin' out at your mom."

Xion sighed. "It's alright, Sora," she insisted. "I understand." She sighed. "So, what were she and Dad talking about, that Cloud guy?"

"I've lived with him as far back as I can remember," Sora replied. "Your dad mentioned he was in SOLDIER, right? He was a bit of a... loner. Your mom was helping him open up. He kind of closed back down for a while when she left, but... he's moved on nicely."

"How was it on you?" Xion asked.

Sora shrugged lightly. "It was kinda empty around the house, but Cloud taught me to fend for myself while he was making deliveries. I even lent him a hand during the busier times. That Hardy-Daytona that your dad mentioned? Not the smoothest ride, but it definitely gets the job done. Man, it was _awesome_ when he let me take the Fenrir to Yokai Academy."

Xion raised her eyebrow. "Fenrir?" she asked. "Like, that old Norse wolf myth?"

"It's a motorbike," Sora explained. "And it's _kickass_." He glanced around. "Tell you what," he whispered, "when we get back to Yokai Academy, I'll take you for a spin."

The snow fairy's eyes widened. "Seriously?"

Sora smiled and nodded. "Aw, yeah."

Without warning, Xion caught Sora in a tight hug, catching him off-guard. "Thanks, Sora," she breathed into his ear.

The vampire hesitated for a moment before returning the embrace. "No problem."

+x+x+x+

That night, an all-too different figure was making his way through the city not too far away.

His garments were light and dark cast aloft - a bright white shirt with short black sleeves, and leggings that were black towards the center and white at the outside. His stature was small, and the hair that crossed his helm was the colour of frost on pavement. A small pair of wooden knives were hooked at his waist, and a bandage was wrapped across his right arm.

He passed by a gas station, out of which stepped a figure in a uniform jet-black robe. His hair was silver; his gaze was gold; and his wallet was light, having just paid for four separate tires. The Yokai Academy bus was parked behind a tow truck, and as the driver stepped towards it he caught sight of the small figure that stepped by across the street.

Said figure's eyes were heavy, and his pace was slow - which might explain why he took a while to realize he was no longer going anywhere.

He came to a stop and glanced around, looking for someone who might have stopped him, and caught sight of the Yokai bus. He saw the bus driver and narrowed his gaze as he stepped forward. The bus driver raised a silver eyebrow as the light-and-dark figure approached him.

"You want to talk to me?"

+x+x+x+

Sora opened his eyes to find Xion's arms wrapped around him.

First thought - _panic._ Kairi was going to smack _both_ of him if she walked in and found Xion there. And then Roxas was going to light his ass on fire. And then Naminé was going to kick his ashes in the dual core. How the hell did Sora even end up like this? He could have _sworn_ he had chosen to take the bedroll on the floor and letting Xion have the huge cushiony mattress. Yet here Sora was, and he was lying on the bed, and Xion had her arms wrapped around him.

A second thought occured to him. _Sora Kingdom,_ he told himself, _you are in a big comfy bed with a big comfy blanket and several big comfy pillows with the snowgirl who you have been flirting with and who has been flirting with you since you got past the whole battle-girl scenario. Basically, you..._

Then the third thought stopped the second in its tracks. _You are lying n__ext to Aerith Gainsborough's **daughter**._

_Panic panic panic panic panic panic panic-_

Xion's embrace tightened around him, and Sora gave a surprised grunt. She might have had the powers of a snow fairy, but when it came to strength Xion had definitely got the yoko end. Her skill in battle had nothing to do with her Keyblade bar the fact that it was a weapon - diversity _and_ strength? That was a force to be reckoned with.

The snowgirl nuzzled up against the back of Sora's neck.

Thinking about something else was _not_ working. Xion's presence against his back was seriously driving something through his mind at an insane speed. His thoughts conflicting, he carefully turned around to face Xion, doing his best not to wake her. She had a gentle, content smile on her face, and her onyx hair was drifting in front her of her eyes. Sora's gaze softened, and slowly, he pulled Xion close and embraced her in return.

Xion set her chin on Sora's shoulder sweetly, and Sora did his best to enjoy the moment before she woke. With his consciousness returning, he was starting to get a grasp for when they had got up. Even underground with no clock around, a vampire could tell the time, and Sora's vampire senses told him it was around six in the morning. No one else could be up, could they? Hell, Sora was surprised _he_ was up. Surely no one would notice if he...

"_Ro_... _Rokusasu..._"

The vampire's eyes turned into massive discs that would make a dinner plate jealous.

With a single swift movement, Sora struck Xion's arms off of his midsection and shoved her away from him - ending up forcing himself away as a result. Xion squirmed, clinging to the mattress as she started to wake, the back of her right shoulder dangling off the bed. Sora wasn't so lucky; he tumbled off the mattress, slammed his elbow into the supports, hit the ground with his shoulder and the side of his head, and completed another roll before his momentum stopped with his nose on the ground.

The vampire slammed his palms into the ground and arced his body into a spin. Having just woken up, his arms were not in a good position to be sustaining his body weight, and so Sora tumbled into another roll with his feet hooked on the underside of the bed. He managed to stop face-up and lashed out, rising to a sitting position. Xion rose, a hand on her head, and the blankets tumbled off her body, revealing her in a stark white nightgown.

She turned towards the commotion weakly. "_Rokusa-_"

Xion's voice came to a halt with a loud and painful _slap_ as her right palm connected with her left knuckles and her left palm connected with her mouth, her eyes widening into massive rings of white ice. Sora was sitting there with a dark look on his face, and as Xion watched with a horrified gaze, tears rising her her eyes, he jerked his feet out from under the bed, causing the structure to quake; then he got to his feet and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him with enough force to rip a crack upon it.

The snow fairy winced, icy tears flowing down her face as she wove her fingers together in desperation.

+x+x+x+

When Kairi and Naminé got up, they found Sora in what appeared to be a mini-gymnasium, working a punching bag to pieces. Several others had already had their chains shattered, and one even had sand spilling out of the torn seam across the top - the place looked like Thorn Darke had been working out in there. Upon seeing the girls walk in, Sora only turned away and stepped out through another door.

Aerith and Zack served the group breakfast. It was a lot homier than the gourmet buffet at Castle Baron Hotel - somehow, that made it even more delicious. Kairi hadn't even thought there _could_ be a 'more delicious' than Black Magic Pancakes.

Leave it to Aerith Gainsborough to prove her wrong.

Xion was sitting at one end of the table. Sora had deliberately chosen the seat to the left of the other end, leaving Kairi with the impression that something had happened last night. How the _hell_ the clawslinger had managed to cause them trouble while under the seal, Kairi had _no_ idea - but she said nothing.

Breakfast passed fairly quietly, and afterwards, Zack led them to the closest aboveground exit to Wild Rose Valley. Aerith explained that the area around their home was trapped in a kind of eternal eclipse, with dark clouds which was one of the reasons they had found it so appealing. They had crafted themselves a kind of artificial ice-and-fire moon above the area, which cast a beautiful moonlight across the fields for a long while.

Roxas grinned. "Last one back to the hotel's a slug monster!"

He took off with a rush. Riku rolled his eyes and muttered, "Amateur," before taking one step forward and vanishing. Sora gave a low growl and shot forward, his body low as he ran. Naminé had her pencil scratching across her book as she chased after them, and the grass beneath her feet began to flow, propelling her forward.

Aerith and Zack smiled as Kairi turned back to them. "Thanks for letting us stay!" she cheered.

"Hope so," Zack prompted, slinging his arm around Aerith's shoulder. "Take care there, Kairi! Keep a leash on Roxas for me."

"Come back sometime, you hear?" Aerith called.

Kairi nodded. "Hope so," she threw back at them, turning to see Xion was shambling along slowly. The smile faded as she stepped after her, leaving Zack and Aerith to head back inside.

Xion hardly noticed Kairi approach until the human girl set a hand on her shoulder. "You alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Xion murmured.

"Riku learned early not to try and hide things from me," Kairi warned. "I know something happened, alright? Just tell me."

The snow fairy shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it."

Kairi narrowed her gaze. "You and Sora didn't... get up to anything, did you?"

Xion reacted. "Wha- Don't even _joke_ about that!" she protested.

"I'm not _joking!_" Kairi snapped back.

That put a look of horror on Xion's face. "I swear to Asura - I swear on my _ice _that _nothing_ of... that manner happened between me and Sora last night."

The human girl narrowed her gaze, which immediately worried Xion.

"On your... ice?"

A sigh passed through Xion's lips. "It's the most sacred oath a snow fairy can make," Xion replied. "Without our ice, we're _nothing_ - not even empty shells."

"That's a really powerful oath," Kairi murmured. She shook her head. "So, what _did_ happen?"

After that exchange, nothing could have make Xion hide anything from Kairi, so she came clean. "Last night, me and Sora were... exhausted. I mean, Sora had gone through that shock-shower, but I don't even know _why_ I was tired. Sora was halfway through setting up a bedroll when he collapsed against the bed and hardly had enough strength to bring himself on properly. I was too tired to think straight and I fell asleep next to him. When I woke up, I..." She winced.

Kairi was worried. "You what?"

"I..." Xion gulped. "I said... _Rokusasu_'s name..."

"You _what_?" Kairi screamed.

Xion nodded weakly, unable to say anything more.

Kairi had a look of absolute horror on her face. "Holy Meteor... Holy sweet Ifrit in a Glaciate, Xion, you realize-"

"I know," Xion gasped. "I can't..." She winced. "I don't even know what I'm supposed to do. Sora has to _hate_ me now. What am I...?"

A flash of determination crossed Kairi's face - without warning, without any warning or reason - then it was replaced by a whole different horror, and the human girl screamed, "Get down!"

She tackled Xion to the ground, and Xion saw a single bolt of lightning fly above them; then it faded, and Kairi forced herself to her feet, turning to face the direction it had come from.

Standing there was a figure in bright red robes that consumed his body. A series of triangular markings covered low on the front of the robes, and there was a large wrap of white cloth dangling from his shoulders that faded to a sunset red-and-gold at the tip. A long, white cloth trailed from under that wrap, pooling on the floor like a cape, and perched atop his head was a white, spreading hat with bloodred trim, marked with a mysterious emblem. In his hand was a long silver staff, with a gold half-ring at the top that circled where his hand gripped it.

Hair dangled around that hat - alternating strands of white and black, like ice on pavement.

And his emerald eyes had the same gaze as always - a child who had seen far too much.

Kairi got to her feet and glared. "Slasher Kishi!"

"Hello, Chikai."

* * *

Draco: The _only_ reason I'm stopping it here is that I get the feeling I'm going to need a whole chapter for the battle and conclusion. Sorry guys, I'm a huge hypocrite, saying I hate cliffhangers and I'm writing a whole lotta cliffhangers! Hope you had fun!


	19. Topaz Blaze Over Crystal Hearts

Draco: Alright, listen up, 'cause I'm only going to say this **once**. I don't want anybody complaining about who is doing what. Or who. The finale pairings were listed at _that _end of the story. Chapter 1. Top section. Got it memorized? Let me put it to you straight: If you review, review on what you _liked_. Constructive criticism involves pointing out plot holes and grammatical errors. I live in Canada, so don't question my U's. This is _my_ story. _You_ are not part of it. Haters will be counter-hated. Flamers will be _Glaciated_. Have I made myself clear?

On a different but not completely unrelated note, I hope I can wrap things up here. I'm running out of gems for my theme naming.

Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 19: Topaz Blaze Over Crystal Hearts**

"Hello, Chikai."

Kairi glared, bracing herself in a close-combat stance as Xion got to her feet. The ice-and-fire moonlight cast a dark glow across the human girl's features as she called, "What are you doing here, Slasher?"

The warrior in the robes narrowed his gaze. "First of all, I want to get something straight - I'm not fooled by you're little half-minute vampire act. I know you're human - so _don't_ try and pretend otherwise."

"So you're, what," Kairi mused, "here to drag me back to the academy and rat me out?"

"Oh, hell no," Slasher insisted, raising his left hand. The fingers of his right lifted off his staff, so that both palms were facing Kairi. "I'm no fool. Your pack of allies would come after me for that. They'd leave me looking like I was at the impact point of _Kuro Meteo_." He shook his head. "Anyways, I'm not here for the revelation. I'm here for the _competition._ Kadaj ripped me off of that rematch and I want to see how well you can play."

Xion was on her feet behind Kairi; and now, the snowgirl flared icy claws across her right hand, sending bolts of icefire flying towards Slasher. The warrior youth narrowed his gaze as he raised the staff in his right hand, forcing it into the ground with a menacing flare of light - and a powerful, spiraling light emerged around his feet, taking form as a multifaceted crystal sphere that guarded him.

The icefire connected with the barrier and sent it flying back at Xion.

The snowgirl yelped, her Keyblade flaring into her hand as she raised it to guard. The blast was caught on the star-flare teeth of the weapon, causing it to frost lightly before she shattered it against her claws. Kairi's eyes were wide. "What the-?"

Xion grit her teeth and swore. "A sorcerer?"

"What happened to your blades?" Kairi screamed. "And where did that... that _raw magic_ come from?"

"They say some monsters are gifted with the ability to learn magic," Xion elaborated to Kairi. "Not just like witches, who draw their power from nature - they say it's complete control over arcane forces. Supposedly, it's not easy to master, but _damn_ if it's not supposed to be worth it." She gave a brief gasp. "More importantly, you know this guy?"

"He tried to cut me open with a katana a couple days before the Niju incident," Kairi replied. "He's... dangerous."

Slasher growled. "Oh, ho, ho. Very funny. I'm only dangerous if you make an enemy out of me - and _you_, Chikai, have made an enemy out of me."

"How?" Kairi demanded. "_You_'re the one who challenged _me_."

"You're a coward."

Kairi blinked. "Excuse me?"

Slasher smirked. "You hide behind those with power far, _far_ beyond yours. You fight on borrowed strength, and use _fear_ to keep potential enemies at bay. You think I'm going to leave someone like that around? You might be human, but you're a faker. A flower, hiding in the dark and casting the illusion of a thorn."

Flames began to lick up and down his staff.

"And I _will not_ tolerate it."

Xion winced, stepping away as Slasher raised his left hand out. "As I was trained, so I will fight. You ally yourself with elementals and raw power, so I face you with the arcane arts I have been gifted. The battle vow of a Sage stands with me."

Now he lifted the staff of the ground, grabbing it by the shaft as the flames gathered atop the head.

"Flowing mind..."

Kairi grit her teeth, bracing herself in a combat stance as Slasher braced the shaft against his arm, aiming the flames at Kairi.

"...Swift hands."

One step.

That was all the warning she had before Kairi saw the sage lash out, sending a volley of flames flying towards her. She dove out of the way, taking Xion with her, before getting to her feet and rushing Slasher herself. Kishi retaliated with ice vapour lining his staff, sending a frozen dagger towards Kairi, but the human girl only slid under it, grabbing Slasher's staff. It started to electrify, but Kairi picked up the earliest, weakest shocks fast and released, rising to her feet and sidestepping as he tried to launch a bolt of lightning at her.

Then she grabbed him by the arm.

Right where twin blades had run themselves through.

Slasher shouted in pain, dropping his staff as Kairi dragged him away from his staff, hurling him across the emerald blades of grass.

+x+x+x+

The lightning bolt that Slasher had fired raced across the plain, out of the moonlight, out of the cloud cover, and up until it struck Riku in the back.

The werewolf had a twenty-metre lead when the electricity struck him, sending him into a voltic spasm and causing him to fall to the ground. Roxas skidded to a blazing stop, paused only to put out the flames by sheer will, and dropped at Riku's side. "What happened?" he demanded.

"I..." Riku winced, trying to rise with jerky movements. "That... that came from the eclipse." He raised his gaze to Sora, who had skidded to a stop with one hand on the ground, and Naminé, who was still a while behind. "Where's Kairi?"

Sora's eyes widened. "You don't think...?"

The four of them exchanged horrified glances.

Then Sora took off, back towards the eclipse, one hand digging into the ground as he shot forward.

+x+x+x+

Slasher Kishi got to his feet and raised his gaze in time for Kairi to slam a straight-arm open palm into his face. He stumbled back as Kairi took a close-combat stance, watching as Slasher rose properly, nursing his wounded arm.

"_Souba_ cuts don't heal fast, do they," Kairi taunted.

She lashed out with a quick thrust, but Slasher snapped around it, grabbing her by the wrist with his left hand and forcing her elbow against his arm. The strike provided enough shock that he was able to lash out with a kick - impressive in robes as long as his - and force Kairi back.

"The strike went straight through," Slasher reminded. "Bone, muscle, skin - it's not going to go away easy."

He rushed forward again, leaping straight at her, but Kairi swept under the strike, letting him tumble to the ground before rising up again. Unfortunately, his leap was straight for his staff; he swept the weapon off the ground and hurled a burst of fire towards Kairi, who quickly raced past the attack.

Xion rushed forward, her Keyblade gleaming, but Slasher only caught that on his staff. The snowgirl lashed out with her claws, but Slasher caught that on his left arm - which left Xion the impression that his robe was lined with some kind of armour. The double-block left him completely defenseless when Kairi struck at the wound on his right arm again, causing his grip to weaken on the staff; Xion struck it out of his hands, leaving Kairi to grab him by the back of his robe and hurl him away.

Slasher got to his feet and thrust his left hand out - and shots of raw, unaligned power flew from it, flying towards Kairi like crossbow bolts. The human girl leapt out of the way. Xion floored herself.

And the strikes connected with a silver weapon.

Xion spun. "Sora!"

The vampire was at a stance that looked like he had taken lessons from the clawslinger - body low, one hand digging into the grass. The Key was raised above his head, and as Kairi watched he rose straight, spun, and hurled the Key at Slasher.

"**_NO!_**"

Slasher lashed his hands to the side, and energy ripped out from him, reversing the trajectory of Sora's Keyblade without so much as a slowdown. Sora dropped low again as the silver weapon raced over him, brushing across his hair, and a barrier emerged from around Slasher, forcing him and Xion back.

The sage glared, turning to Kairi, who took a defensive stance. "I _won't_ let you hide behind those stronger now, Chikai," he snapped angrily. "I'm here to face you. Got it?"

A blur ran into the barrier. Both of them turned to see Riku had slammed his face into the barrier. Roxas skidded to a stop and ended up almost pecking it with his nose.

Then the barrier _erupted_, forceful crystal shards sending everyone flying.

Kairi shouted, rushing towards Slasher. The sage raised his hand again, trying to fire more magic from it, but Kairi only sidestepped the first volley, slammed her palms to the ground as the second neared her, and lashed out with a palm-propelled kick before Slasher could get in a third. The strike connected with his chest, causing him to tumble backwards as Kairi landed with a fluidity she didn't know she had.

+x+x+x+

Outside of the battle area, Riku and Roxas had been sent flying far out of reach. Sora and Xion, who hadn't been _quite_ so close to the blast area, had still landed roughly, but they were close enough to see the battle going on. The barrier had been reformed, unidirectional - the vampire and the snowgirl couldn't get through, but Kairi wouldn't be running into any obstructions any time soon, so long as she and Slasher didn't get close.

Xion formed ice claws on one hand and reached to strike the barrier.

Sora struck her hand away.

"Don't even _think_ about it," he scolded darkly. "You touch this barrier and you're going to land right next to Roxas." A necrous huff passed through his lips. "But then," he mused, turning to Xion, "you'd like that, wouldn't you?

The snowgirl winced. "Look, Sora-"

"I don't want to hear it," Sora snapped.

"But-"

"I _don't_."

Sora turned away, lifting his hand just over the barrier, as though feeling for a weak point. Xion was worried - there was something... odd about him. Something that reminded her all too much of the clawslinger.

+x+x+x+

Kairi was not fairing well. Slasher was an arcane _nightmare_, hurling blasts of magic and even lashing out with his staff when she was close enough. She kept attacking the wound on his arm, but Slasher was fighting through the pain, not slowing down. She could feel something defensive under the robes in most places, but his weak arm was unguarded - he had probably bandaged it too thick to fit armour over it. Considering it had been run through with _Souba_, Kairi couldn't blame him. That didn't mean she wasn't going to use it to her advantage, though - he knew she was human and he was packing _magic_, and she couldn't afford to not take the upper hand.

Slasher, however, was treating his staff like a backhanded blade as well as a magic too - and though the strikes didn't _cut_ like his katana did, it definitely hurt, often stunning Kairi long enough for Slasher to get away from her attacks. Not to mention, she could never evade his magic unscathed - there was always that lick of flame, that brush of an ice shot that left wounds across her body, that light shock of electricity that stopped her from finishing a single blow that would knock him out.

The sage was a combatant far, far beyond Kairi - and it was all she could do to not succumb to his attacks.

It took forever before one of them faltered, and it didn't take an eleven-year-old genius to figure out it wasn't Slasher. One of his ice strikes connected with Kairi's right arm, wrenching a scream from the human girl as she fell to the ground. Slasher grinned, lowering his staff with his hand still just below the head, and stepped forward menacingly as a deadly voltage gathered at either end.

"And so the faker falls," he taunted.

He let the staff slide across his hand, voltic sparks racing across the shaft as he gripped it near the base tip and Kairi could only watch as she raised her hand menacingly...

And the barrier _shattered_, sending the sage flying.

Kairi turned to see Naminé, her pencil on the paper. Xion, Roxas, Riku, and Sora were standing around her, and as soon as the last shards of crystalline magic had vanished, everyone got to work.

Roxas grabbed the dagger in Kairi's shoulder, melting it with flame around his hand.

Xion quick-froze the cuts across her body, stopping the blood from flowing.

Riku rushed Slasher and tried to pull his staff out of his hand. The resulting effect was much like a taser.

Naminé raised a barrier of grass between the Yokai students and Slasher, knowing it wouldn't last long.

Then everyone got out of the way as Sora stepped towards Kairi, and she reached forward and pulled the crown loop off of his chain.

Slasher had lit the barrier at the same moment as the chain shattered, and the result was an _exploding wall of flaming grass_ as Sora rose, turning towards the sage with his eyes closed. His hair went jet-black in an instant, fiery red rising from the roots yet failing to reach the tip. His skin paled, and his fingernails elongated, sharpened, cut into pin tumbler keys forming claws off his hands as he stepped towards Slasher.

His eyes opened, and for a brief moment the irises were illuminated with necrous gold before fading to a brilliant bloodred.

The vampire locked eyes with Slasher for a brief moment.

Then he kicked the sage in the left leg, causing him to fall over.

A smirk rose across the clawslinger's face. "I think that should suffice this time," he mused. His gaze narrowed, and he dug his claws into Slasher's robes, rising him off the ground and leaving his staff there. "That _will_ suffice this time, right?"

Slasher tried to strike him in the side of the head.

Sora drove his knee into the most sensitive part of the human male body, causing the sage to fall to the ground, gripping the wound. "Right in the dual core..."

The vampire glanced at Slasher for a moment before raising his gaze across the plain. "Hey, Xion."

The snow fairy reacted - aside from Kairi, the clawslinger _never_ referred to anyone by name - the only other time she had heard her name come from him was during Kairi's tri-attack incident. "Um... yes?"

Sora glanced at her over his shoulder. "You have my full permission to slap the Keyslinger for being a jackass."

Everyone pulled back in surprise. Riku crossed where the barrier had been.

Xion blinked multiple times. "Did those words just come out of your mouth in that order without a 'not' in there?" she exclaimed.

"Well," the vampire mused, "he knows full well the circumstances of what happened this morning at six hundred hours in the bed of the... third guest room from the dining room of Zack's residence."

There was a sound like a chain breaking. "_What!?_" Roxas shouted, causing Xion to turn in horror as Roxas stepped forward, hair sparking like a live fire, eyes burning a bright sunset gold. "_Shi-oh_, _what the hell is-_"

"...and he's just sour because he was kind of wishing that it had been him."

_Everyone_ _else_ crossed where the barrier had been. Naminé landed on Riku. Roxas' hair was now decidedly on fire.

Sora smirked, still facing away, and he reached out towards where Kairi was, snapping his fingers. A moment passed; then Sora's face fell to a frown. "Kairi?" he prompted, snapping his fingers again. Another moment; then Sora turned around.

And Kairi _slapped_ him.

The vampire stumbled back, tripped on Slasher, and landed on his nose. He got to his feet with an irritated look on his face and shouted, "Would you _stop_ that?!" he shouted.

Kairi raised a hand.

Sora took several steps back.

Slasher decided that the attack hadn't hurt too much and tried to scramble away before Kairi stepped on the trail of his robes.

Roxas' hair had gone out when he had seen Kairi get up after the second snapping of Sora's fingers.

There was stalemate for several moments; then Kairi tossed the rosario at Sora's face, causing it to clatter off his forehead and hook on his hair.

+x+x+x+

The rest of the summer week passed by uneventfully. Sora - the Keyslinger - had received exactly _two_ slaps from Xion after the clawslinger's permission. Roxas was still impressed at how the clawslinger had managed to provide _precisely_ enough information to raise maximum implications and not utter a single false word. He and Naminé spent the time they had talking about what appeared to be some kind of secret project that raised a lot of suspicious amongst the others.

The group worked on their story. The Wild Rose Valley story took up a _lot_ of newspaper space; rather than working on the extras, they had _just_ enough empty space to provide a 'Sorry for the huge story!' section. Aerith and Zack were left out by Sora's request - the world thought them _dead._ Information otherwise would be a bad idea. Instead, the story... well, perhaps it would be best to simply read the front page.

**_Altair and Wild Rose Valley  
_****_Field out of Arubboth, a Battle in Pandaemonium, and a city to spend the night in our world!_****_  
_**

_Human population is out of view when you arrive at the stunning sight that is Wild Rose Valley. Nature is in top form - wild roses scattered across the field, which arcs and curves like a jade ocean. You would be cruel to even _attempt_ to approach this place with anything other than adoration.  
Which provides a convenient excuse for the four out-of-sight, out-of-mind warriors that fill that area. Sword swinging Firion Ragnarok, archer beauty Maria Longinus, and the bruiser known only as Guy guard this beauty not all too far past the city of Altair. Don't assume you can get past them - they're all about staying on the defensive and keeping anyone of ill intent _out_.  
Their problem mainly consists of Maria's brother Leon (no relation to our own Squall Leonheart) being a wild blood knight with a taste for Pandaemonium threats. He walks in broad daylight in full armour, with an axe and sword hidden under his robe. Though honourable - he will not fight an unarmed opponent who does not wish to fight unarmed - he thrives for battle, and anyone who can't fight him now _will_ fight him in Wild Rose Valley. You take a look at him? He knows where you are and where to find you.  
Doesn't mean he's going to find you without a place to stay, though. Don't fear about camping in Wild Rose Valley with Leon Longinus haunting your tent from the outside. Altair is home to Castle Baron Hotel - four star restaurant, four star bedroom, four star customer friendliness. Rosa Farrell at the front desk will know you by name, not by number. You'll be escorted to your room by Rydia, bellhop who may have tamed Bahamut with that whip. Room service? More like a meal _straight_ out of the restaurant, delivered by the ninja-clad Edge and his assistants Palom and Porom.  
Don't get too used to it, though - spend your time snackin' and crackin' and blowin' your dough and you're gonna be out of shape for the rest of your trip! See what else that Altair and Wild Rose Valley has to offer on page... you know what? Just stop gawking at the artwork and turn the page, we've got three more on this thing._

"You just couldn't resist, could you?" Riku mused, turning to Kairi, who had written most of the front page.

"I wanted to make it something people _want_ to read!" Kairi insisted. "Sue me."

* * *

Draco: That took a lot less than I expected it to. Sorry I failed to make it 4000 words again. Also, sorry I'm late, I got hit by writer's block. Again. At least I stopped the cliffhangers! Enjoy, everyone!


	20. Flame to Flame

Draco: Ikeda had less character intros at the start, and thus I'm one chapter short on Mulch getting real. This finishes volume 5, hooray! Let's hope I can make 4000 words this time.

**HEY! _LISTEN!_ **If I get one more review from someone asking me to change what I'm doing I'm going to stop allowing guest reviews and I'm going to start moderating. Got it memorized? Get it memorized.

Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 20: Flame to Flame**

First day back after summer break.

Yokai Academy was joyful, carefree.

And Slasher _still_ managed to get his ass handed to him.

His staff hit the ground after him as his opponent - a figure in a vest with sleeves rolled up and very very dark black jeans, with steel-blue hair before his eyes - narrowed his gaze. In his hand was a large book, and as Slasher got to his feet his opponent closed it rather boredly. "You'll have to do better than that if you want to stand any such chance."

"Asura damn it, Sakkaku," Slasher growled. "I asked you to help me train, I didn't-"

There was a scream of twisting flesh; then Slasher spun, raising his staff to catch the bladed limb that flew towards him. The image of his opponent behind him vanished; the tutor was standing there, book closed in his left hand; and his right was forming a dragon wingblade all-too-familiar to Slasher.

"Focus, Kishi. You know what your problem is? You're can't fight multiple foes. And if you want to stand a chance..."

Footsteps behind Slasher caused him to turn, raising his gaze and sending shots of light from his palm that were caught against the surface of the book as the bladed arm was swung, flying past Slasher's face by millimeters.

"...Then you have to overcome that problem."

Slasher growled angrily. He pulled his staff from one of his opponent and leapt over the other, landing at the edge of the area. Flames began to flicker at the hems of his robes, and ice began to frost across his face as his staff began to charge with lightning.

"Bring it on, Sakkaku, I got all day."

His opponent huffed, both illusions fading as the single true image at the far end of the room narrowed his gaze. The blade that his right arm had taken shifted, condensing until in its place was a single, humanoid hand, and he glanced at it, flexing his fingers. "Yes, well, unfortunately for you, _I_ do not. If you are so determined to overcome your problem, meet me at noon. Then perhaps we can try again."

He turned away, stepping out of the room. As he left, he found himself joined by a familiar figure with fiery red hair.

"So how's things going with the kid, Zex?"

'Zex' rolled his eyes. "You seem rather upbeat, Axel," he mused. "Are you honestly interested in his progress?

Axel shrugged. "I want to see how much mancy he can fancy. Got it memorized?" He tapped his forehead. "Anyways, how's his spells coming along? Has he recieved the approval of _the great_ Zexion Sakkaku yet?"

"He has power. And he is incredibly skilled. However, he fails to succeed in efficiently combating more than one opponent at a time." A thoughtful hum passed through Zexion's lips. "Perhaps I should try setting Larxene after him."

The meteor-haired figure only laughed. "You're gonna put _Larx_ on his case? Do you want a dead student on your hands?"

"Do not misunderstand me," Zexion insisted. "She told me she was practicing a technique... something she called 'the twin tango'. I feel it might help."

"Ooh, I wouldn't do that if I were you," Axel warned. "Twin tango isn't anything to take lightning. She keeps this up, she's gonna start playing catch with _lightning_ through someone's skull."

Zexion closed his eyes. "Perhaps that is just the push that Kishi needs."

Axel blinked, coming to a stop as Zexion continued to walk. "Wait, _what__?_"

"In any case, Axel, I have a mission for you." Zexion slipped a card out of his sleeve, turning to Axel and flicking it across the hall. Axel snatched it out of the air with a swipe, glancing at it - they had started making out a form for their clients, considering that they had to keep listing the order specifically.

"_Target-_ Roxas!?" Axel glared at the schemer. "What, are you crazy?! I'm not going to-!"

"Keep reading," Zexion interrupted.

Axel narrowed his gaze and turned back to the card. "_Target: Roxas Kaigara, Karai-_ sorry, **_Kairi_**_ Chikai. Objective..._ What's with this scrawl? Um... _Objective: ...Lure target to abandoned Enforcer outpost. Physical damage... permitted. Reward-_ Okay, that's total Bulbo dung." He glared at Zexion. "The last time we were offered a reward like that the Jenova brothers ripped us off, up, and into Arubboth."

"Look at the footnote."

"Grumble grumble..." Axel squinted hard at the scribble across the bottom of the card. "_Paid... in advance_?_ Sincerely..._" Axel's eyes widened. "No way in hell. I haven't heard from him since-"

The rattle of coin caused Axel to raise his gaze to see Zexion holding a large bag with a crescent moon inscribed on the front. "Do the mission, and it's all yours for the trouble," Zexion replied.

Axel grit his teeth. Then he drove the card into his pocket, stepping past Zexion with a harsh elbowing.

"Why do _I_ always get stuck with the _icky_ jobs?"

+x+x+x+

"Yoohoo!"

The crowd on its way to class turned to see Sora perched on the front of the papers table, waving a copy of the newspaper around like some kind of announcer. The newspaper club stand had been painted bright emerald courtesy of Naminé, and a banner was raised over it reading _Yokai Times!_

"Extra! Extra!" Sora called. "Read all about it, or some Mulch like that! Summer vacation special edition! Get 'em while they're still sweating, while supplies last!"

The crowd cheered the usual "Kingdom! Chikai! Kurai! Kioku!" along with a bonus round of "Hey, it's Xion!" from the guys (and a couple girls) when they got closer. As the dust kicked up, Sora's grin flashed off his face as he realized how vulnerable he was to the oncoming stampede, and he flipped back into the stand, murmuring, "Now I see why you don't do that anymore."

It took about five minutes for the obligatory "SETZEEER! AAAH!", which caused Kairi and Sora to turn round towards Setzer, who had contributed absolutely nothing to the new issue. His hands were empty. The SiC's face instantly became one of confusion. The two traded annoyed glares, which quickly shifted to devious smirks as they turned back to him, and Setzer started to panic, turning before Kairi grabbed him by the coat. His feet skidded against the grounds for a moment before she got enough stability to drag him backwards, and Sora managed to snatch him by his bright blue tee before hurling him into the crowd.

The group went _insane_, everyone clawing for the gambler as the News Club continued to hand out papers.

A distance away from the crowd, Roxas - who was hanging back from the handout swarm - caught sight of a familiar figure with a familiar meteoric hairstyle leaning against a tree a while away from the crowd. Curious, the yoko got to his feet and stepped towards him; no one in the crowd noticed as he stepped towards the loner and called, "Axel?"

"Hey, Rox'," Axel mused. "Stayin' away from the crowd?"

Roxas shrugged. "Yeah."

A chuckle passed through Axel's lips. "Just like old times, huh?"

"Little bit," Roxas admitted. "What're you doin' here? I thought you'd be making sure Larxene stayed in her cage by now."

"Hey, watch it," Axel stated. "She doesn't go in a cage, no matter how mission she is. That's my girlfriend you're talking about there. Got it memorized?" He tapped his forehead, his face still a set glare.

Roxas snickered. "Alright, since when did you two start dating?"

"Huh?" asked Axel, who had a tendency to let his mouth run ahead of his mind. And then, when his mind caught up, his face turned the same colour as his hair. "No! Wait, I mean-"

"Oh, come on, Axel," Roxas prompted. "You've been making that slip since I met you. If you're not gonna say it to her straight, I'm gonna get Naminé to forge your handwriting and sign an invitation."

The meteor-hair snapped back like Roxas had threatened him with knives. "You wouldn't!" he exclaimed.

"I _would_," Roxas countered. "And if you don't want me to, you'd better drop her a note yourself." A smirk rose on his face, and in mimicry of Axel's own habit, he tapped his forehead. "Get it memorized."

"Okay, now you're ripping me off," Axel snapped.

Just then, the bell went off, and Roxas glanced back at the crowd stands. "Hey, I gotta grab _Shi-oh_ and go, yeah? I'll meet you after class!"

Axel nodded. "Alright." His gaze narrowed. "Wait, hey-!"

"See you, Axel!" Roxas called, already running and leaving Axel feeling _pathetic._

+x+x+x+

The day passed rather uneventfully, leaving Xion to make her way to her room loaded with books. Roxas and Naminé were working on the same secret project that they'd been doing since the summer break, meaning that Xion was left with nothing to do as she arrived at her room.

She stepped inside and set the books down on her bed, taking a seat next to a mirror stand she had set up. She gazed at the mirror for a long while, and slowly, ice began to wrap around her hair, forming an icy helmet thatspiked out unwarningly when the cover was complete._  
_

Xion tapped the spikes observingly, gazing at her reflection. _It always used to be just... uniform,_ she thought to herself. _Like a macehead - all balanced and spaced out. But it looks like its taking some kind of... pattern._

There was a knock on her door that caused Xion to spin round in a shock. "Xion?"

The snow fairy yelped and struck her frosted helmet, causing it to vanish into thin air, before getting to her feet and stepping towards the door to find Sora there. "Oh, Sora!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

Sora smirked. "What, you forget already?"

Xion blinked. "Forget what?"

"Oh, come on," Sora prompted. "I mean, sure, things were busy when we got back, but I don't think that merits forgetting about it when classes start."

"Sora, what are you talking about?" Xion asked.

The vampire sighed. "Remember what I said, at Aerith's place? You were asking about Cloud's bike?"

Xion stared at her feet for a second, thinking. "Um... old Norse myth... wolf... Fenrir? You said he lent it to you for Yokai..." Her gaze widened, flying up to see Sora's grin. "You mean-?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah," he replied. "Me and you, let's take Fenrir and go for a spin."

The snow fairy was incredulous. "Sora... seriously?"

"Seriously," Sora insisted. "Come on, me and the clawslinger figured out how to make the tunnels work. I think. He thinks. We think. Maybe we can head by Altair and grab something at the ice cream shack."

A gasp passed through Xion's lips as she arced her mouth into a smile, and without warning she shot forward and wrapped her arms around Sora. "You _rock_, vampire!"

Something clattered against her forehead, and Xion pulled back to see Sora's crown was dangling like it was caught up in a wind. With an irritable roll of his eyes, Sora rapped his finger against the charm, snapping, "Come on, we had a deal!"

+x+x+x+

Kairi was hanging around the garage where Sora had shown her Fenrir was parked, looking for a way in, when a familiar voice called, "Hey, Kairi!" She turned to see Roxas making his way towards her and rose straight.

"Roxas, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"Wandering," Roxas admitted. "Naminé said she could finish up on her own, so I went for a walk and ended up here. What about you?"

The human girl beckoned to the door. "Sora's got some stuff stored in here, including a pair of blades he was letting me use. Something started feeling weird about them after that first shot of vamp blood, so I put them back, but I realized after the Wild Rose Valley scenario that I'm gonna need a weapon after all."

"Hey, Rox'!"

Kairi turned towards the voice to see a figure in a tight-sleeved waistcoat and sweatpants - a lanky figure with hair like a meteor, bright red and spiked back. His eyes were a curious green, with a weird anticipation burning behind them, and there were markings underneath like teardrops. He looked like he was supposed to be hanging out with Larxene.

"Hey there, Axel," Roxas called. "You need something?"

Axel gave a nervous chuckle, scratching the back of his head. "Well, it's the stupidest thing ever, but..."

Roxas raised his gaze. "But what?"

"I found this old underground hangout the other day," Axel replied, glacing at the ground. "It looks like it's ripe for the looting, but the door's locked, and..." He gave another awkward chuckle. "I can't find the key."

The yoko gave a sigh. After a moment, his shadowy Keyblade flared into his hand, causing Kairi to yelp, and Roxas hooked it on his shoulder. "Well, at least it's not your room key this time," he sighed. "I oughta be charging you for this."

"You can go in ahead of me and take the first prize," Axel insisted, rushing his words. "I mean, I gotta make it up to you, right?"

"Something wrong?" Roxas asked. "You haven't spouted a 'got it memorized' this whole conversation."

Axel gave a joking huff. "I don't say 'got it memorized' unless you _need_ to get it memorized. Got it memorized?" he added, tapping his forehead.

Kairi burst out laughing at that, causing Axel to turn. "Ooh, you're Kairi Chikai, right?"

"Yeah, I am," Kairi replied, nervous. "You know?"

"Well, given that you're in the news club, I had four options. Something's going around about a girl Kadaj Jenova keeps calling 'firehair' kicking his ass, so I figured that was my best bet. Name's Axel," he added, holding out a hand. "Axel Kasai. Got it memorized?" He tapped his forehead with the other hand.

"Okay, now you're doing it on purpose," Kairi accused, taking his hand.

Roxas shook his head. "Nah, that's his usual intro." He tapped Axel's shoulder. "Well, were you going to show me the way or did you expect me to open every lock from here to Pravoka?"

Axel's gaze widened. "Right," he mused. "Come with me. Kairi, you want to join in?"

Kairi shrugged. "Might as well."

+x+x+x+

Not two minutes had Kairi and Roxas left the garage when Sora and Xion showed up. Sora flared his silver Keyblade into his hand, tapping the garage door's lock, and as the painful grating emerged he grabbed the door handle and hurled it open, revealing Fenrir sitting there, waiting to be ridden. Sora stepped up and let Xion mount it first. She sat at the back of the ride, on the tip of the seat.

Sora rolled his eyes and hopped up front before grabbing Xion's hand and pulling her right up behind him. The vampire flexed his fingers as he glanced over the front, looking almost unfamiliar, before reaching for the handlebars embedded in the hood and grabbing the right one, giving it a vicious twist towards him. The bike's key shot out of a slot right next to Xion's back, causing her to pull away as Sora grabbed it out of the air, drove it into the ignition and twisted.

The bike roared _like a wolf_, causing Xion to put her arms tight around Sora. The vampire closed his eyes, smiling softly, before gripping the handlebars again and giving the bike a wicked rev._  
_

The two of them took off, screeching towards the bus stop. Sora could have sworn he saw Yazoo Jenova watching as he and Xion rode Fenrir up the hill and into a skid on the turnaround. Xion glanced around before Sora turned back to her.

"Sorry," he prompted. "This thing moves with the rider's body, I wanted to make sure it wouldn't change with a passenger. You might want to ice that," he added, sweeping a hand across his own spiky hair.

Xion gulped, her arms tightening around Sora as her hair frosted, and Fenrir howled as Sora arced into a U-turn and roared into the tunnel.

The moment they passed the curtain of darkness, everything vanished. Xion closed her eyes - not that it made any difference - and murmured a prayer to Shiva as Sora continued to accelerate.

"Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on..."

A light appeared at the end of the tunnel, growing brighter and closer by the second.

Sora grinned, rearing Fenrir like a horse, and Xion screamed as they tore through the light.

"_AWWWWWWW YEEEEAAAAAH!_"

Xion looked around to see them roaring across the highway. Directly behind them, front bumper scraping the rear tire, was a bright red convertible with ocean-blue flames painted across the hood. The driver - an unkempt teenager who looked like he'd gone shopping in a rubbish bin - hammered onto the brakes as Sora slammed the front wheels down and drove faster.

A massive grin plastered itself onto Xion's face, and she cheered, pumping her fist into the air. "Woohoo!"

"Hold on!" Sora called. "Let's see how fast this thing can go!"

+x+x+x+

"This the place?"

Axel had showed Roxas to what looked like an aboveground access to the school basement. There _had_ been several arches lined up outside, but they had been shattered and broken; only two remained. The door was a set of black iron bars with a thick lock.

"Yeah," Axel replied. "Apparently, there used to be a huge pack of power-abusive jerks holed up in here, soliciting money and valuables from students like some kinda yakuza. Oughta be a few in here somewhere."

Roxas sighed, reaching his dark-teeth Keyblade to the locked door and touching the keyhole. A swift _click_ emerged, so fast and quiet that the group hardly noticed it. Axel's nervous smile became a confused frown. Roxas narrowed his gaze and touched the door again, to no effect. "That _never_ happens," Roxas murmured, glancing at his Keyblade.

Kairi chuckled. "Don't worry," she insisted, stepping forward. "I think it's just a really well-treated lock." She grabbed the door and pulled it open with ease. "See?"

"Huh." Roxas shrugged, fading his Keyblade. "I call first dibs on anything that's handy in a fight!" he declared, charging in.

"Hey!" Kairi protested, chasing after him. "Come on, I'm the only one without a weapon!"

Axel chuckled as he watched the two of them rush in; but before long, his grin faded, and he sighed, pushing the door closed. The thing swung into an open arc, and with a rush Kasai quickly reached in and grabbed it to stop it from slamming against the wall. Slowly, he pulled the door back into place, making sure it would stay closed.

Then he drew a black iron key from his cloak pocket and drove it into the keyhole, silently bringing the lock closed.

"Sorry, Roxas," he murmured.

+x+x+x+

"Where's fireboy?"

Slasher Kishi came to a stop with Zexion's wingblade of an arm against his staff. The tutor sighed, his weapon shifting back into his hand, and he flexed his fingers as he turned. Larxene was standing there, hand on her hip.

"Well?"

Zexion gave an irritated 'hm', closing his book. "Axel is on a mission. One for which he recieved payment in advance. And that he has no doubt already completed, on his way back now."

The sage tapped the floor with his staff as Larxene glared. "You're insulting me," she snapped. "Don't insult me. I'll crush you if you insult me."

"Oh, please don't," Slasher insisted. "I've almost got this multiple-opponent thing down and I don't want to break my rhythm by kicking your ass."

Larxene glared. "Is that a threat?"

Slasher ran his left hand down his staff. "You want it to be?"

"Enough," Zexion snapped. "Both of you. Larxene, go make yourself useful and find Axel. Kishi, take your stance."

Kishi rolled his eyes and braced his position again as Larxene gave an irritable huff and stepped out of the room.

+x+x+x+

Sora had to slow down Fenrir when they got closer to Altair. Strangely, Xion felt disappointed - she had kind of enjoyed the thrill of the wolfhound motorbike ripping across the highway and overtaking everything they came across.

"Right here!" Xion prompted, beckoning to a confectionery they were approaching. "Stop right here."

The vampire nodded, bringing Fenrir into a swift parallel park before reaching low. His silver Keyblade appeared in his hand, and he wrapped the chain at the end around one of the handlebars before impaling the Key in the ground; then he killed the engine, and he and Xion got off and stepped inside.

Without Kairi's fistful of hundred dollar bills, the two didn't get extravagant with the spending; rather, they each grabbed a cold drink and sat down at one of the tables.

"That was _amazing_," Xion exclaimed. "I didn't think they made vehicles that went that fast."

"Custom-made," Sora replied. "Cloud wasn't going to settle for a slow piece of Mulch for a delivery service."

Xion smirked. "And then he let you take it to Yokai?"

"After having helped him with seven different deliveries a week for three months?" Sora parried. "Yes."

The snowgirl sighed. "Fine, so you get a job done. I still find it kind of amusing that he'd let you take that ride to the academy."

Sora rolled his eyes. "He made me pay for the damages in advance," he admitted. "When I get back, he'll refund me accordingly."

"Good to know," Xion mused. "What about gas?"

"Fuel efficiency that would make any mass-produced vehicle weep," Sora countered. "You can go a thousand clicks on empty, highway speed."_  
_

Xion giggled. "Alright, stop acting like a salesman."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "I'm just answering your questions."

"And making it sound like something I want to buy!" Xion reprimanded. She got to her feet, milkshake and grabbed Sora's hand. "Come on, you better hope that thing has cup holders."

"Wha- Hey, Xion, what are you-?!" Sora barely had enough time to grab his smoothie before Xion had dragged him outside and up to the vehicle. Sora sighed and stopped her from mounting it; he got on and kicked back, causing a compartment on the right of the back to open up, revealing a set of six drink slots.

Sora lowered his smoothie in, causing the slot to close in on his cup; Xion did the same, and Sora closed the compartment before Xion leapt on and Sora roared the bike back up.

"Can I drive?" Xion asked.

"I wouldn't," Sora replied. "Fenrir's not easy to get used to and Cloud's gonna cut me in half if it comes back crashed."_  
_

Xion sighed. "Oh, come on, _please?_" she begged.

Sora closed his eyes for a moment before a sigh passed through his lips. "Alright, once. Let's get out of the city first, then I'll let you take a turn." He gave the bike a rev, and his Keyblade vanished - leaving a hole in the pavement - where it had been - before they shot forward.

As promised, the moment they arrived at the city limits, Sora brought the bike to a halt and let Xion slide up to the front of the bike. "It moves with your body," Sora warned as Xion gripped the handlebars, "not your hands. You have to lean into the turn, just trying to twist the front wheel won't help. Make sure you get it up to sp-"

Xion gave Fenrir a wicked rev, causing Sora to yelp as it shot forward like icefire. He managed to hook his legs on the seat and pulled himself back up to Xion as she gave a very loud cheer. The bike was coming up fast on a four-way intersection. One of those roads led by Wild Rose Valley; the snow fairy leaned hard to the right, and Sora gave a cry of horror as the bike took the turn sideways.

An SUV coming up in front of them didn't help matters.

Xion screamed, twisting herself back around. The bike swung around on its front wheels, pulling a full 360, and the back wheel nearly skidded across the back bumper of said SUV before Fenrir shot forward at an angle across the road. Another vehicle was coming up, this one a truck with seven piles of rock in the box. Xion tried to slide right past it, but that brought the bike into an out-of-control spin - and to make matters worse, there was a sports car coming up right ahead.

Sora reacted fast.

He slammed his feet against the back wheel drum and shot forward, flying through the air right by Xion halfway through a barrel roll. His palm connected with the hood, and he arced into a counter-spin as he pulled himself forward, landing on a backwards skid several metres ahead of the bike, arm swept back.

His silver Keyblade flared into his hand.

"Hold on, Xion!"

The vampire braced his weapon before him, Keyblade facing Fenrir, and as the hood collided Sora surged his left foot forward. The bike arced into a forward flip, roaring into the air over the sports car and missing its driver, who had ducked under the wheel, by millimetres. Sora himself leapt back, connecting with the hood of said sports car with light feet, before arcing into a backflip and landing behind it. The back tire of Fenrir connected with the road, the front tires skidded against the gravel, and Xion managed to get the bike off the road before it skidded to a stop.

Sora chased towards her, finding Xion looking unhurt, but absolutely horrified. One of her legs were pinned under Fenrir, and as Sora approached the bike, which had fallen over, but was still undamaged. He drove his Keyblade under the vehicle and managed to upturn it, causing it to flip once and land on its other side. "Xion, are you alright?"

"I... I'm fine," Xion murmured. "I just..." She winced. "I panicked, Sora. I don't know why. I just..."

"It's alright," Sora insisted. "Xion, it's alright. Come on, let's head back. I need to-"

A flash of pain crossed Xion's face, and she gave a scream of torment, gripping her head as Sora set a hand on her shoulder. "Xion! Xion, what's wrong? What's-?"

"It..." Xion winced. "It's _Rokusasu_... Something's happening to him. It's like... Someone's attacking him..." Her eyes widened. "Sora, Kairi's with him!"

Sora swore with a ferocity that would make Naminé wash his mouth out with grass blades. "How...?"

Xion stopped him from asking. "Sora, we don't have time. We need to _go._"

"Right. Come on on the bike, on the bike." He turned and rushed towards Fenrir, propping it upright as Xion leapt on the back. He grabbed the handlebars and pulled Xion forward before revving it into a roar, and the two of them shot forward at incredible speed,.

Sora's rosario slapped him in the face.

He had no such time to protest.

+x+x+x+

"There's nothing here."

A concerned frown crossed Roxas' face, but Kairi only shook her head. "Come on, Roxas," she scolded, "these guys aren't going to leave valuables littered around the front door. Come on, there's probably some kind of treasure hold further in."

Roxas turned to her. "Treasure hold?" he accused. "What do you think this is, a pirate ship?"

"You know what I mean," Kairi insisted. "Come on, let's go."

They headed further in, down a long hallway filled with cells. A chill ran down Kairi's back when she saw what looked like a Minotaur skeleton in one of the cells, murmuring, "I think that thing is following me." The tunnels led them further and deeper until they arrived at a dead-end covered with scrap metal and stone.

"Okay, what the hell," Roxas muttered. "There's nothing here. There has been _nothing_ this _whole way_."

Kairi glanced around. "You think Axel was leading us on?" she asked Roxas.

Roxas shook his head. "No way in _hell_. He's my friend. He knows I'd kick his ass for it. Or at least sabotage his date."

"He's on a date?" Kairi asked.

"Not yet," Roxas admitted. "Anyways, come on, let's go. I guess we can tell him there's nothing in here, and we can save him the trouble."

He turned to leave.

A wild roar - an almost _human_ roar - stopped him.

As Roxas leapt back, a massive plate dropped down in front of the passage they had just come from, blocking their only way out. One of the walls seemed to pull away, causing Kairi to spin round, leaning against Roxas' back as a figure stepped out - a figure in smooth black leggings and a coat with long tails.

His hair was the colour of a raging sea at night - a deep, menacing blue - and his eyes were bright gold, with a scar crossing between them like an _X_. A crescent moon earring dangled from his left ear, and dragging in his hand was a massive weapon that looked like something between a blade and a club; a long, thick shaft with a thinner handle at one end and a massive starflash at the other, contained within a thick round guard that carried faint spikes that lined up with those of the flash.

"Who...?"

Roxas spun round. "Saïx!"

Kairi glanced at him. "You know this guy?"

The yoko growled. "He's a hell of a monstrel, I'll say that much," he muttered. To Saïx, he shouted, "What are you doing here?"

Here's what creeped Kairi out; Saïx's face _didn't change_. She was so used to opponents that smirked, or snarled, or glared, or taunted, or even just _narrowed their eyes_ at her. The only change on Saïx's face, however, was that of his mouth moving.

"I've come to fight you."

Roxas glared. "On what terms!?"

Saïx stepped forward. "Not your concern."

"Oh, this oughta be good," Roxas groaned. He held out his hand, his dark Key flaring into his hand, and turned back to Saïx. "Alright, moonshiner, I'll bite. You know who I am. You know what I can do. What the hell makes you think that you can do anything about it?"

Saïx's face changed, his mouth arcing into a faint grin - but it was an empty expression, the corners of his mouth rising ever so slightly, never reaching his eyes. "It's quite simple, Roxas. I know you've changed. You should know I haven't."

He lifted his blade off the ground. "And your change is not for the better."

Roxas smirked, whirling his Key in hand. "Challenge accepted."

The two shot towards each other, clashing blades. The moment their attacks connected, Saïx leapt into a flip, bringing his wicked weapon towards Roxas' head, but the yoko arced around, daggering his Key after Saïx's side. His opponent only swept away, and the two held still for a moment.

Saïx attacked first, lashing out with a single solid overhead blow, but Roxas pulled away, striking out past it. This attack hit true, catching Saïx in the shoulder, and he skidded backwards, his blade dragging in the ground.

"Is that all you got, moon rabbit?" Roxas prompted.

His opponent only reached for the grip of his weapon, pressing a button inlaid into the base of the handle. A cold white liquid began to seep from the hilt, washing over the shaft of his weapon, and Saïx closed his hand around the handle again.

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "That's it?" he prompted. "You're just gonna wash your claymore?"

"Claymore?" Kairi asked. "That's not a sword, that's a spiky _club_. It's practically a morning star."

"It's a large weapon with a blade that can do a lot of damage in little time," Roxas replied. "That's all it took for everyone to start calling it a claymore."

Saïx shot forward with a round blow, and Roxas ducked under it. The liquid across it flew over his head, spraying across the ground in front of Kairi, and she pulled away. "Ugh, what's that smell?" she protested. "It reeks like beer."

"Moonshine," Roxas explained, lashing out with a kick to Saïx's stomach. "It's a kind of spirits. Now stop talking," he insisted, leaping into the air, as Saïx lashed out again. This one got moonshine all over Kairi's legs, causing her to pull away disgusted.

Roxas tried to bring his Key down on Saïx's skull, but the cloak pulled away, lashing out with an earthward blow. He rolled away as moonshine slid across the floor, and Roxas lashed out with a sweep of his Key; but Saïx pulled away, landing a single solid blow on Roxas.

The moment the moonshine connected with the yoko's arm, it _ignited_, covering Roxas in heated blue flames.

The yoko gave a horrified shout, tearing off his black cloak and throwing it to the ground, leaving him in smooth black garments not unlike those Xion wore. Saïx gave his emotionless smirk again as the cloak on the ground continued to blaze.

"Moonshine is flammable. And your fire _burns_. A yoko's skin constantly produces heat sparks as a self-defensive mechanism. You may have control of it during your everyday life, but in battle your body is a walking candle - a flare dancer."

"I'm sick of you talking."

Roxas lashed out with his bare hand, a bolt of pure heat flying from his palm. Saïx's non-smile faded, and menacingly, he raised his claymore before him, causing the blaze to collide with the moonshine covering the shaft and starflash.

As the fire connected with Saïx's weapon, the flames turned a moonlight blue with a menacing force. The starflash at the tip of the weapon burst, the ring surrounding it expanding, the spikes elongating, and he arced it around behind him before closing his hand around it in a reverse grip and bracing it behind him.

"Then let's make this short and sweet."

His body began to shift; his ears twisted, sharpening into points, and his hair began to distort. The scar between his eyes raised, became jagged and torn, and his body began to thicken, becoming more muscled and stronger. The gold in his irises expanded to fill his eyes with precious metal, and his mouth twisted into a wild snarl.

He raised his gaze above him and gave an insane roar.

Then he shot forward, swinging his blade towards Roxas and sending liquid fire ripping across the air. The attack connected with Roxas' Key; the moonshine soaked into his arm, ripping blue flames across him, and he gave a tortured shout as he tried to force Saïx back. The monstrel leapt into the air and slammed the attack towards Roxas' helm; though it missed _that_ target, it did slam into Roxas' leg, and the yoko shouted as his leggings ignited, falling to one knee.

Saïx aimed for his ribs.

Kairi stopped him.

The human girl had been spurred by whatever berserk rage had consumed Saïx; now she grabbed the monstrel by the arm and gave him just enough of a tug to stop his attack from connecting. He lashed out towards Kairi instead, but she only ducked under the side blow. Saïx aimed for an overhead, but Kairi leapt away from that; when he dragged his claymore across the ground for an uppercut, she only sidestepped it.

She slapped Saïx with her left hand.

The monstrel paused for a moment... then whirled around with the same insane snarl on his face.

Kairi's heart sank. "Well that didn't work," she mumbled.

Saïx swung his claymore for a roundhouse blow.

It was then that Roxas shot into the fray, forcing the monstrel back. His left legging and right sleeve had been torn off, and the attack left the claymore spinning in the air next to Kairi, covering her in the stench of moonshine as Roxas forced Saïx to the ground. The two of them wrestled like wild fighters before Roxas managed to knock Saïx into the air with a two-foot kick

The berserker grabbed the roof.

Bad.

The claymore flew from Kairi's side and into his hand.

Worse.

Saïx roared, lashing out with a falling blow, and Roxas leapt away. The flowing moonshine got all over the chest, and he tore it off with a pained shout before the moonshine blaze could damage him permanently, leaving his left sleeve covering his arm and wrist. Saïx rushed him again, but the yoko formed his dark Key in hand and arced around the blow, dodging every drop of moonshine Saïx was trailing before hooking the teeth of his weapon in Saïx's side and pulling. The spiral blow sent Saïx whirling for a moment, and Roxas kept pulling away.

Then the monstrel hurled his weapon.

Roxas leapt out of the way.

Kairi couldn't.

The attack connected with her legs and caught her, dragging her across the air and slamming her into the ground. Roxas lashed out with his Key, but Saïx only caught it with his bare hands.

The monstrel roared in Roxas' face.

The yoko roared right back.

Then a third, continuous roar caused everything to stop, and yoko and monstrel both turned to the massive steel plate that was barring the way in and out of the arena.

+x+x+x+

It took Sora and Xion seven tries to get the Tunnel of the Fourth Dimension to work again. They both knew that every failed attempt was bad news; so when they were finally enveloped in complete, impenetrable darkness, both of them called their Keys to hand, ready to fight.

They tore out of the tunnel at top speed, only just missing one of the trees that lined the turnaround as they shot back towards academy grounds. The Yokai bus was parked nearby, and the bus driver - who had been washing the window - turned towards them with a confused look in his golden eyes.

Xion and Sora didn't notice; the two of them were already nearing the school. At Xion's insistence, Sora managed to arc Fenrir into a 630 degree turn sideways and took off towards what looked like empty ground. After a moment, however, Sora caught sight of what looked like an aboveground access to a basement. There was a closed gate door on it, and as he arced into another sideways donut skid Xion hooked her light key on the door.

If it was locked, it unlocked pretty quickly as Xion pulled the door open out of momentum, and Sora eased up on the throttle, if only slightly, before roaring the bike down a flight of stairs. It was a twisting hallway down there, yet somehow Sora managed to get through without damaging Fenrir. A massive steel plate guarding the exit to the tunnel posed a bigger problem.

Sora and Xion both hurled their Keys towards it; then Xion wrapped both arms around Sora as he arced the bike into a wheelie.

+x+x+x+

The roar from behind the steel got very loud very fast; then two Keys tore through the seam between the door and the tunnel edges, and Roxas leapt out of the way as the plate was thrown across the room. Saïx's howl died halfway out as the plate slammed into him and forced him through the wall he had come out of.

Xion and Sora brought Fenrir to a sideways stop three-quarters of the way across the room.

Roxas turned towards them. "_Shi-oh!_"

"_Rokusasu!_" Xion exclaimed, leaping off the bike. Upon seeing he was shirtless, with half of his left legging missing, her face lit up with a crimson blush, and she averted her eyes nervously.

The yoko sighed. "Oh, come on, _Shi-oh_," he insisted, "not now. Come on, guys, we gotta get moving. Sora, how many can that bike take?"

"Three," Sora replied, all business.

"Then I'll trail," Roxas replied. He turned to Kairi, who was trying to get to her feet - not easy, considering her legs been struck by a whirling throw and currently had the offending weapon lying across them. "Oh, crap, Kairi!" He rushed towards her. "Come on, he insisted, skidding to a stop, in front of her, "we've gotta get moving."

"I can't..." Kairi was trying to pull Saïx's claymore off of her legs. "This damn claymore won't move."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Um, claymore?"

"Not now," Roxas snapped at him, reaching to pick up the weapon.

His fingers touched the blade.

_The world exploded._

In all the commotion, Kairi and Roxas had _completely forgotten_ that both the claymore and Kairi had been doused in moonshine. The contact of Roxas' still-sparking yoko skin against the spirits caused a massive explosion that sent Roxas flying, consuming the weapon and the human girl trapped under it in horrific blue flames.

And Kairi Chikai gave a scream that pierced Pandaemonium.

The steel that had trapped Saïx tore open, revealing the monstrel standing there with a menacing grin on his face, still wrapped in the berserker changes as he shot towards Roxas. Xion blasted him in the face with an offhand shot of icefire as she and Sora tore towards Kairi. Xion was able to force the flames down and freeze the moonshine so the flames would be unable to reignite; but Kairi's skin was charred, blackened, and her body was limp. Xion checked for a pulse, a breath, as Sora tore the claymore off of her legs, hurling it over Fenrir.

"Sora, she's not breathing!" Kairi screamed.

The vampire didn't even think about it; he reached forward and pulled Kairi towards him, sinking his fangs into her neck.

Roxas was currently clashing hand-to-hand with Saïx, putting an infernous blaze into every punch; but Saïx, in his complete berserk state, hardly noticed, dealing unlit punches that packed like a troll. Roxas took the hits, forcing him back, away from Xion and Sora, not realizing until too late where Sora had landed the claymore.

Saïx _did_ realize; even wild, he saw it, and he grabbed it, shattering the ice against his leg before arcing it over his head and aiming a moonshine-blazing strike at Roxas.

The attack was interrupted by a female hand.

And _pure, raw_ _**power**_ lit up around its owner, sending the weapon flying.

Kairi was standing there, her hair flaring around like she was caught in a sandstorm, and her hand fell back to her neck with a light touch. Her skin healed from the burns until it was normal, then paled a shade as a thousand shadows crossed her hair, one by one, until it looked like heated obsidian. As her hand flew towards Saïx, her fingernails elongated, sharpened, cut, until a set of pin tumbler claws dug themselves into his coat. She lifted him off the ground; as his other hand flew towards her, she stopped it by digging another set of claws into his palm.

Her eyes snapped open.

Blood red flooded her irises.

The gold in Saïx's eyes shrank back into his.

One blow was all it took; then Saïx was sent flying, crashing through the wall with enough force to obliterate it. Exceptionally impressive, considering there was _solid rock_ sitting on the other side, and Saïx was now embedded several meters within it.

In all the commotion, Fenrir hadn't been so much as scratched.

Kairi glared after Saïx for a moment; then she turned back to Roxas.

The yoko raised his hands defensively. "Don't hit me, I'm sorry!"

He didn't get a response.

When he turned back, Kairi had slumped to the ground.

+x+x+x+

Later, when the sun had set and Roxas was out on a night stroll, he found Axel not even trying to hide, leaning against the same tree he had been before. With a sunset gold lighting up in his eyes, the yoko stepped up to Axel, who turned towards him absently.

"Hey there, Rox-"

He was silenced by a single hard blow across his face, knocking him backwards and causing him to fall to the ground. Roxas glared at him for a moment; then he gave a grunt of mild pain and gripped his hand. "Okay, that _hurt._ How the _hell_does Kairi do that _regularly_ to a _vampire_?"_  
_

"She does what?" Axel prompted.

"I think she's got the connection points better than I do," Roxas admitted. "I keep seeing her hand sort of _twist_ as it connects. Like - here, get up," he prompted. He grabbed Axel by the sleeve of his jacket and dragged him to his feet, allowing Axel to dust himself off.

Then he raised his hand and slapped him again. This one didn't knock Axel to the ground - although that could be justified by him actually being on his feet - and Roxas glanced at his hand. "That's more like it," he mused. "Alright, Axel, what the _hell_ with yesterday? You lured me into a _trap._ Saïx was down there and he was spitting moonshine all over the place. I burned Kairi to the ground, damn it! I oughta-"

He was silenced by Axel holding out a large bag that rattled with coins, with a crescent moon on the front. "Look, Rox', it's all yours," he insisted. "Zex got paid in advance and made me do the job because Larxene's a trip and he was busy training some fighter kid. Just take it and stop hurting me, alright? I didn't have a choice."

Roxas narrowed his gaze.

"I'll let you forge my handwriting and invite Larx on a date with me?" he added nervously.

The yoko sighed, a smile creeping onto his face. "You know what?" he mused, pulling the bag out of his hand, "I guess that's punishment enough."

* * *

Draco: Oh yeah. We're near the 8000's, don't know why I was worried about breaking four.

Alright, I'm going to be clean and honest with you guys, this is going to be the last flat chapter end for a while. I've got a huge story arc coming up and I'm gonna be dropping like seven cliffies on you a volume. Volumes come in groups of four chapters. _Yes._ So sorry, in advance. Hope you all liked another round of Kairi kicking ass!


	21. Purity Tainted

Draco: Gods, I keep getting evil with these names. As mentioned earlier, this is going to be the first in a long string of cliffhangers and I apologize in advance. Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 21: Purity Tainted**

Deep into the night. The moon was nearly full. Riku was howling on the school roof. Roxas and Naminé were busy with their secret project. Sora was meditating. Xion was asleep.

Kairi wished she could say the same.

"Ow, ow, _ow!_"

The human girl rose with a start, gripping her neck weakly. "What the hell?" She felt around the area and came across a small puncture right on her jugular. Her fingers moved ever so slightly, brushing against another, identical puncture, and Kairi quickly got to her feet and turned on a light, stepping towards the mirror to make sure this was what she thought it was.

There it was, clear as day - two glaring fang holes on the side of Kairi's neck.

"What's going on?" she murmured. "The marks never linger." A gasp of pain passed through her lips as she inadvertently brushed the inside of the gaps. "Must've got infected. Probably got some moonshine in there somehow. Should be fine by tomorrow..."

+x+x+x+

The marks weren't healed the next morning, but Kairi only berated herself for thinking that such a thing would happen less than overnight. She quickly bandaged the marks and made her way to class, feeling strangely dizzy.

Much to Kairi's relief, the morning passed rather uneventfully - she didn't want to start something in her state - and at noon hour the six of them - her, Sora, Riku, Naminé, Xion, Roxas - gathered in the club room to get an early start on the next issue of _Yokai Times_. They were back to their usual routine: working on the extras and praying that a story would show up before the month passed.

Kairi's dizziness had not subsided - she could have sworn it was actually getting _worse_, though she blamed it on trying to work through it. The others noticed, and after a while Xion actually caught her shoulder. "Are you okay, Kairi?"

"I'm fine," she insisted. "I just... I had a rough night. I need to..." she gave a gasp of pain as she tried to get to her feet and found her legs uncooperative. "I need to go lie down. Tell Leonheart I'm not gonna be in class, alright, Sora?" she prompted, getting to her feet.

Sora narrowed his gaze worriedly. "Are you sure you're alright?" he prompted.

Kairi nodded. "Yeah-" Her hand slipped off the table, and she stumbled in place for a moment before finishing. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I just need a rest."

The vampire turned to Riku. The werewolf felt his gaze and locked eyes, and Sora beckoned his head towards Kairi insistently. Riku nodded, getting to his feet and stepping towards her. "Here, Kairi, let me walk you back, alright?"

"Sure," Kairi murmured. She started to fall, but Riku caught her and let her put an arm around him before stepping out the door.

All six of them had a different reason to be worried.

+x+x+x+

_What's going on?_

"I don't know."

_There's something wrong with her._

"You think I didn't notice?"

_You need to check up on her._

"She's going to slap me. You know what it's like when she slaps me."

_I've been the one taking those slaps._

"Then don't question them."

_She acted like this before?_

"Most certainly not around me."

_Have you asked Riku about it?_

"Stop asking questions you know the answer to."

_What's going on?_

"I **don't know.**"

It was late at night. Sora was perched in the middle of his room in meditative stance. Surrounding him were several aromatherapic candles. The cross of his rosario was shining out against the crown, and before him, if only in his eyes, was himself. But the image before him was himself with hair like fire in the dark, and eyes of blood connected to the pupil by a gold ring.

He and the clawslinger had been stuck in this loop for over an hour.

A hard, solid knock on his door caused him to break his focus, and the clawslinger's apparition vanished as he glared at the door over his shoulder. With an irritable growl, he turned back and snapped his fingers, causing the door to fly open.

Xion's voice caught the back of his ears. "Sora?"

"Sit down."

His tone was not harsh, but nor was it particularly comforting. Slowly, Xion approached him and sat down, legs crossed - just as, not all too long ago, she had during their study sessions.

Those brought very annoying memories into his mind, and he raised a hand to stop her. "Seiza position."

There was quiet for a brief moment, then a shuffling as Xion hesitantly took the requested posture. There was a single minute of silence; then Sora sighed and turned to her, pulling out of his meditative stance and sitting down normally.

"Sorry about that," he admitted. "I'm..."

"Worried about Kairi?" Xion prompted.

Sora nodded. "Yeah," he admitted. Then; "You can, er... you can drop the seiza if you want."

Xion gave a light, nervous chuckle as she sat cross-legged again. "Sora... I need to ask you a question."

"Go ahead," he insisted.

"How..." Xion hesitated, then said louder, "How often?"

"How often what?"

"The blood," Xion replied. "Your vampire blood. How often have you given Kairi a shot?"

"I don't make it a scheduled thing, if that's what your asking," Sora defended. "When Kairi is about to die, I take emergency measures. That's _how it works._"_  
_

Xion was quiet for a moment. "That's... that's not really an answer," she murmured.

Sora sighed. "I couldn't tell you," he admitted. "The injections are blurred in my mind - location, date, opponent, it's all a weird... stew. The shot leaves me with physical effects kind of like anemia, but it... it clouds my mind. Not like when the clawslinger takes over, where it's just misty - it honestly tears into the memories and shatters the chains."

He gripped his forehead. "And I can't fix the links."

"So you don't have an answer?" Xion asked.

"I don't," Sora admitted, raising his gaze. "I'm sorry, Xion."

Xion sighed. "Alright," she murmured. "I understand. Thanks, Sora."

She got to her feet and closed the door behind her. Sora was quiet for a moment; then he sighed and got to his feet, putting out the candles between his fingers before crawling into bed.

+x+x+x+

"Talk to me, Yazoo."

Deep in the abandoned dungeon, three brothers were gathered. Silver hair, pulsing eyes, and a jet-black wing over the right shoulder were the common traits between them. One was a gunslinger who was little more than handy with a blade; one was a bruiser who was tough in a fight and that's about it; and the other was a swordsman with twin blades in one hand.

The swordsman was the youngest, but he was also the darkest.

Yazoo only sighed. "We have no resources to fall on if we want to confront them. Kaminari is prohibited from assisting us due to constant failure with her missions. Her allies had refused to accept a mission due to the lack of received payment from our previous."

His gaze shifted to Loz, who raised a hand defensively. "Hey, don't look at me!" He turned to Kadaj and added, "Anyways, there aren't any others on the grounds who'll work with us. And Kishi's p.o.'d after you ran him through with your blade, so we can't count on him to help."_  
_

"Damnation," Kadaj muttered. There was quiet for a moment. "What about outside help?"

"No chance," Loz replied. "The school grounds are guarded - you can't get in or out unless that silver at the bus wheel brings you in. And we can't trick him into lettin' an attack party on grounds."

"Besides, that would leave us rather hypocritical," Yazoo prompted, his voice low. Louder, he elaborated; "You told off Chikai for wanting to bring in human spies. After she's proven you wrong for assuming she was human in the first place, you really think she's not going to beat you into the ground for calling in allies of your own?"

Kadaj growled. "Shut it, Yazoo," he snapped. He rolled his shoulder with a light grunt. "My wing's still sore from that hit. Leave it to Kingdom to find another vampire and then double-team my ass." He winced, gripping his forehead - something was off about his memories of that fight.

"Face it, Kadaj," Loz prompted. "If you want to go pound Kingdom, you ain't got no one to lend us a blade. We're gonna have to cut 'em ourselves."

A small smile rose on Kadaj's face. "Maybe not," he murmured. He turned to face Loz. "Hey, I want you to head down into that tunnel by the coast. The one from Kurai's first news issue. If there's no one down there, loot the place for anything sharp. If there is, knock 'em out and drag 'em here?"

Loz nodded, pulling the catch on his Dual Hound so that the handle rolled into his hand. "You got it." He turned and drove his feet into the ground, rocketing forward so fast his body glowed blue.

"Yazoo," Kadaj added, "surveillance. Let me know who and what Kioku, Chikai, and that... Shy'in girl are doing. I need when and where. I also want you to check up on their condition - have they got anything, is it good, is it bad, are they treating it, etcetera, yada yada, blah blah blah."

"Of course," Yazoo mused. He headed out the door and flared his wing before drawing his Velvet Nightmare and rising off the ground, into the night air.

Kadaj waited until he was alone, and then counted to ten. In Latin. Then he drew _Souba_, grasping it by the blade and glancing at the handle curiously. There was still a faint mark where Kurai had cut it in half. Though it had held up so far, the line almost looked like a seam, which left Kadaj wary.

He shook his head and drove the weapon back into its sheath before starting deeper into the dungeon.

+x+x+x+

"You sure about this?"

Naminé nodded. "Yeah. I'm sure. I don't want to lose this."

Her room looked like some kind of mythical forge. What everyone had been calling her and Roxas' _secret project_ had required making the place fireproof. Roxas' hair was sparking like someone was scraping metal together for a living. Naminé's sketchbook was on its last pages - and she had been double-siding. Both of them had spent _half of the summer holiday_ planning and priming and basically taking every precaution they could. The other half had been spent testing the limits of those precautions.

Roxas sighed. "You know this is going to hurt.

"I know, Roxas," Naminé insisted. "But I need this, alright? I can't..." She sighed. "Look, I've been helpless before because I'm limited by what I have, alright? That's the problem with being what I am. And this is so that I can overcome that. But to do that, I need your help. So please, stop asking questions and let's just do this."

She locked eyes with the yoko for a long while.

A sigh passed through his lips. "You're gonna want something to bite."

"No, I-" The witch blew her hair exasperatedly, scrambling around for her pencil with her left hand, and flipped her sketchbook to a new page. She tapped her pencil to the page for a few moments, thinking about how she wanted to draw this, before scrawling a crude sketch onto the paper. The image did her usual work absolutely _zero_ honour, but she seemed satisfied as she slipped her pencil back into the rings and turned back to Roxas. "There, the room has been sound-sealed. No one will hear a thing."

"That's horrible, Naminé," Roxas murmured, gazing at the image. "Your art skills don't deserved that kind of treatment."

"Roxas, _focus._"

The yoko sighed.

Three streams of flame rose from his back - the blazing tails that marked him as a yoko.

"This is going to hurt. A _lot._"

"Begin."

Roxas raised two fingers, touched towards each other - and a haous sphere of raw, white flame blazed at the tips.

He touched it to Naminé's arm.

A piercing scream tore through from the witch's lips, and it was all she could do to resist the urge to tell Roxas to stop.

+x+x+x+

The next day, Kairi was gone the entire morning. Sora and Riku were tied for most worried, but that didn't mean much considering how worried everyone was.

Naminé was no less worried than the others, but she looked like utter and complete _hell_. She had tear streaks down her face, and there was a strange look in her eyes - like she was hurting. In addition, she was working with her left hand, struggling her hardest to keep her whole right arm out of view.

"You catch something?" Xion asked of the witch. "Kairi didn't look like she was sick, but if she was in a bad condition and now _you're_ in-."

"It's not... sickness," Naminé muttered, cutting her off. "Kairi was in pain. She hadn't 'caught' anything. How I am right now has nothing to do with how Kairi was yesterday."

Sora narrowed his gaze. "You sure?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm sure, now stow it. I'm not in the mood, okay?" Naminé's protests were weak.

"Hey, guys!"

The voice caused everyone to turn to see Kairi walking towards them. Riku shot from his seat in a blur; before anyone could see where he was, he was skidding to a stop with his arms around Kairi. "You're alright!" the werewolf exclaimed.

Kairi winced from the unexpected contact, but returned the hug gratefully. "Yeah, I am," she prompted. "A bit lightheaded, but I should be good for a while still."

Sora, who was on his feet for himself, narrowed his gaze. "What do you mean 'for a while'?" he asked. Something on Kairi's neck caught his gaze. "Wait, what's that?"

Riku pulled himself away and glanced at Kairi to see a small wrap of bandages around her jugular area. "Hold on, isn't this...?"

The whole group got up and approached the human girl as Sora neared her, setting a light hand on the bandages. "That's... that's my bite area! Kairi, did something happen?"

"I'm fine," Kairi insisted, pushing Sora's hand. "That Saïx guy was swinging alchohol around yesterday, I think the bite might have got infected. I'm sure it'll be fine if I jus- _Holy **shit**,_ Naminé, what happened to your arm?"

Everyone's gaze was redirected to Naminé. The witch's right arm was covered in haphazard lines that circled her arm, wound lines like cuts... or burns. Nervously, Naminé tried to cover it with her left arm, to little effect. "It's nothing," she replied. "You don't need to worry."

"Like hell," Sora retaliated. "Naminé, that looks like some kind of.. torture method. Did something happen to you yesterday while we were all-"

"It's nothing to do with you," the witch insisted. "I'm fine, alright?"

Kairi narrowed her gaze. "Does this have something to do with yours and Roxas' project?"

Everyone glance at Roxas, who gained a sudden interest in his shoes.

The witch grit her teeth, averting her gaze. "...Yeah," she replied. "It's just... miscalculations. It's not gonna last, I swear to Ifrit."

+x+x+x+

"Well?"

Loz sighed. "There was nothing in there," he replied. "No blade, no bow, no clubs, no traps, no students, teachers, outsiders, strippers - nothing."

"And what the hell implied there were going to be _strippers_?" Yazoo demanded.

The brute averted his gaze. "Tell us what you found, Yazoo," he snapped, changing the subject.

Kadaj and Yazoo exchanged confused glances; then they both shook their heads to clear them. "Anyways, my recon provided several pieces of info about the news club members."

"Go on," Kadaj prompted.

"Kingdom and the Shy-on girl are spending as much time as they can together," Yazoo replied. "I got little more on them, other than the fact that Kingdom seems to be treating himself with aromatherapy recently. In addition, Shy-on seems to be spending the nights... active. I'm not sure who she tells of her location. Kioku seems to be suffering from wounds of some sort on her right arm. She and Kaigara have also been growing closer. Kurai spends the nights on the school roof. He seems to be perfecting a routine, which means that he intends to follow a set pattern during battle."

Kadaj gave a huff. "Hasn't learned his lesson," he observed.

"Quite," Yazoo agreed. "As for Chikai..."

"I know she wasn't in class this morning," Kadaj replied. "Or yesterday afternoon. If that's what you're gonna tell me, then save it."

Yazoo shook his head. "She seems to be... in pain. I passed by the freshman dorms and she appeared to be ill. If she shows up this afternoon, check to see what might be wrong with her."_  
_

Kadaj tapped _Souba_'s handle. "You know, I thought she was acting strange yesterday morning. I'll check up on her." A grin rose on his face. "If she's feeling down, that means she can't go wild on me. And if we keep her away from Kingdom... Oh, this is gonna _work!_"

+x+x+x+

"Hey, Chikai?"

Kairi turned to see Kadaj Jenova approaching her. It was late after classes; she had stayed behind to get the work she missed from Professor Leonheart, which meant she was alone. She was starting to regret it; whatever was hurting her was getting worse. She set her face into a glare, hoping to intimidate him; she was in _no_ condition to fight. "What do you want, Kadaj?"

The Jenova boy pulled away, raising a hand defensively. "I just wanted to ask you something," he insisted. "You don't look too good. You catch something?"

The human girl lowered her gaze. "Maybe," she admitted. "I was in a fight a couple days ago - some monstrel who was swinging alchohol around. I think it might have been contaminated."

"Ugh," Kadaj murmured. "Gross. Who uses alchohol in a battle?"

"I... think he was washing his weapon," Kairi lied. "Must've not wiped it off afterwards. I hear alchohol is good for stuff like cleaning." Talking with Kadaj was getting constantly weirder, so she quickly excused herself. "Look, I've gotta go, alright?"

Kadaj nodded. "See ya, firehair" he prompted.

Kairi didn't respond, only continuing to walk away, stumbling as she started towards the dorms.

A grin rose on Kadaj's face. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, dialing Yazoo's number. "We've got info. Chikai is confirmed to be in a weakened state. Get Loz and get ready to fight; then mobilize and meet me on the way to the freshman dorms."

+x+x+x+

_Damn it, wake up!_

The clawslinger's angry shout tore Sora out of sleep in a flash. He scrambled to the middle of the aromatherapy setup in his room and snapped his fingers, causing all the candles to light, before taking a meditative stance. The clawslinger's image appeared before him.

"You think you've figured it out?"

_Figured what out?_

"Kairi. Fang marks. Weakness. Dizziness? Being bedridden? Come on, that's all we were talking about yesterday!"

_What I've figured out is that you were naive enough to leave Kairi alone at the school building and I've been trying to get a hold of you since you got here._

"Okay, how the hell did I keep you out?"

_We can only talk like this when our minds are in sync. You clearly need to stop lazing around and practice_.

"Look, do you have any idea what might be wrong with her?"

There was silence for several moments.

_I don't._

That was not good news.

+x+x+x+

"Sixty-seven."

Naminé was lying across the fireproofed floor of her dorm room, tears of pain streaming down her face. There was a kind of magic in the air she had never tested before - a raw kind of arcana that she was struggling to maintain. Roxas was sitting next to her, his tails lightly brushing against Naminé's legs - though they took the form of fire, he was able to control the heat, and that left a feeling like a cool breeze across the witch's skin.

It was little comfort, given the heat that blazed across her right arm.

Roxas sighed. The shining sphere of fire between his fingers lifted the next piece of their project off the floor, and he watched as it went from cold, haous white to a deadly red-hot glow; then he swept it past his eyes and towards Naminé's arm, and pressed it against her skin.

Another tortured scream passed Naminé's lips as the flame dug into her skin, and there was a rending _crack_ as it joined with the previous piece.

"Sixty-eight."

The witch was waiting for the point where the fire would stop hurting - the point where her flesh would be used to the heat. Stories of humans and witches taking a thousand lashes across the back, criminals who faced torture rather than death, told that the pain ceased to be painful after twenty strikes.

But each story told of a thousand lashes, concentrated on one area. This was a constant flow of pain; even as one part of her arm became used to the endless pain, the heat would arrive past that boundary, that radius the inferno treated - and the pain would never end.

The next piece connected, and Naminé's scream died halfway through as her voice faltered, tears flowing from her eyes, and the same _crack_ sounded again.

"Sixty-nine."

+x+x+x+

"Kairi?"

The human girl spun and nearly fell over. Every step had left her feeling weaker; she wasn't even halfway back to the dorms.

Her vision was a blur, but she was able to make out the werewolf who stood there. "Riku?" she managed to call out.

Riku's arms closed around her. "Kairi, what's wrong with you? You're in pain. Tell me what's wrong!"

"I'm fi-" Kairi gasped, her vision going black, and she struggled to stay upright as her body began to give way.

Riku was freaking out; Kairi sounded like she was being strangled. "Kairi, Kairi, stay with me, stay with me, please, please-"

A single solid blow to his head sent him flying, and Kairi was torn from his arms as he skidded across the ground. He raised his gaze to see Loz standing there, the pistons of his pile bunker clicking back into place.

"That's for rippin' me off on that payjob."

At his side was Yazoo, holding Kairi with an arm across her chest, his Velvet Nightmare in his left hand. "One down," he mused. "Four to go." He raised the bladed firearm towards Riku. "Now, you're going to tell me - where is that Shy-on girl?"

Riku got to his feet. "All I'm going to tell you," he snapped, "is that you're getting her name wrong." Soul Eater volted into his hand as fur began to race across his skin.

Loz raised his Dual Hound towards Kairi, the pistons drawing back. "Ah ah ah!" he called. "You talk, or Chikai gets the Ramuh treatment six feet under.

Yazoo turned towards him with a glare. The movement caused his arm to lose its grip on Kairi, and the human girl fell to the ground, gripping her neck with one hand and her forehead with the other.

"Kairi!" Riku shot forward.

And a pair of blade strikes tore across his chest.

Riku fell back, running into a gravestone as Kadaj whirled _Souba_ back into a backhand grip, folding his wing behind him. "Back off, Kurai," he threatened. "Chikai's _mine._"

"Who the _hell_ is it you think you are?" Riku snapped. "Kairi doesn't _belong_ to anyone!"

Kadaj smirked, angling his gaze. "Maybe not," he mused. "But if we take you all down, then what kind of options does that leave her?"

Kairi tried get to her feet, her hand twitching across the ground, but her body refused to agree.

_What's wrong with me?! What's going on?! It feels like my whole body is being torn apart!_

Kadaj drove _Souba_ into her hand, tearing a scream from her lips. Then he drew out his blade, and Yazoo grabbed her by the back of her shirt, dragging her to her feet. Loz raised his Dual Hound again, and Kadaj flipped _Souba_ to a backhand grip before levelling it on Riku.

"Talk, Kurai," he snapped. "Where's the snow fairy."

Riku set a finger between his eyes as his werewolf change shifted over him properly, his face elongating. "I'm not telling you worth _shit!_"

He hurled Soul Eater, causing the dragon wingblade to dagger towards Kadaj.

Kadaj caught it between the shafts of _Souba_ and flipped it to the ground.

Loz launched the pistons, sending an impossible voltage through Kairi's body, and a tortured scream tore from her as she fell to the ground.

Riku rushed forward, but Kadaj only drove his blade into the werewolf's shoulder, causing him to shout. Soul Eater volted into his left hand, and he tried to strike out with that, but Kadaj only lashed out with his right hand, launching a shock that sent Riku flying off the end of _Souba_. He hit the ground roughly, his vision and his consciousness flickering.

"Loz," Kadaj called, "pound him."

The brute stepped forward, locking Dual Hound ready to strike.

And a hand closed on his helm with a grip like a vice.

A surge of pure, raw power caused Kadaj and Yazoo to turn. Kairi was on her feet - she was _standing of her own volition._ Her hair was flaring around her like the snakes of a medusa, the crimson fluxing between light and dark. Her fingernails were sharpened into crude claws, straight dagger points, and her eyes were trapped closed, twitching like a nightmare.

Loz tried to lash out, but Kairi actually lifted him off his feet, hurling him into the air by his skull. Yazoo swung with his Velvet Nightmare, raising it to fire; but Kairi only grabbed Loz by the leg and arced him into a spin, catching the shot in Loz's arm; then Kairi pulled a full spin before hurling the brute towards the gunslinger and crashing both of them to the ground.

Kadaj spun to face Kairi, whose hand gripped her neck in pain. A murderous growl passed through Kadaj's lips, and he shot forward with _Souba_ arcing for a round blow.

Kairi opened her eyes.

Bloodred flooded the irises.

Kadaj stopped halfway through the flight, his feet still off the ground, and raised Souba before him as Kairi shot towards him. "No no no no no," he pleaded, "not the wing, not the wing, _NO!_"

Kairi didn't grab his wing.

She grabbed his neck.

Then she hurled him into his brothers, and the pile of silver and leather skidded into the tombstone setup.

A moment passed; and once it had, Kairi fell to the ground, lying in yin-yang with Riku.

+x+x+x+

That was how Xion found them, two hours later, next to the horrific crater where the Jenova brothers had been. Kairi was twitching in her unconsciousness, her eyes clenched tight, and her hand was gripping the bandages on her neck. Her movement had been enough to tear of the bandages, and now, in the bright moonlight, Xion could see what had been beneath them.

Two punctures in her neck.

Fang marks.

Xion winced, closing her eyes. "I knew it."

* * *

Draco: This is part one of this story arc. And things are about to get very dark.


	22. Vicious Vamp

Draco: ...Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 22: Vicious Vamp**

"One hundred and six."

Naminé was out of screams. She had run out of screams on the seventieth piece. Her vision had gone black, and her face was run with tear streaks. It had taken all of her willpower just to stay conscious. The cool of Roxas' tails against her legs no longer carried any comfort - all her mind would process was pain. Just sheer, unbound pain. But the loop was nearly complete, and the witch could only pray to Asura that she would be able to survive it.

Roxas let the second-last piece heat up as the others had before pressing it against the previous, hearing the searing _crack_ as it locked on, and Naminé's body vibrated weakly. That she no longer had the strength to cry out, to even show any proper movement in response left a sour taste in Roxas' mouth, but she had been insistent; she had made him swear on his life that he would complete this, and he was bound to his oath.

"One hundred and seven."

He picked up the final link in the holy sphere of white fire between his fingers, and he raised it before him, letting it heat up until the cold white had gone red-hot as the others had. Naminé's eyes were open, but they were blank - the pain had overtaken her senses, and she could no longer see what was going on. Roxas bit his lip and raised the last link towards Naminé's arm.

There was a fierce pounding on the door.

"_Rokusasu_ Kaigara, open this Leviath-damned door _now!_"

Roxas spun in a shock. "_Shi-oh_?!" The loss of focus caused the link to fly from his fingers, flying through the door, and he heard a yelp as it flew by Xion and impaled in the wall outside. Roxas swore fiercely, tearing the door open with his left hand as the sphere reappeared at the tips of his index and middle finger, and he caught sight of the link just above eye level of the opposite wall.

He picked up the link in his holy fire and rushed inside, forcing the link into Naminé's arm, and the final, piercing _crack_ sounded as the loop was completed. Xion stepped inside as Roxas released a bitter breath without opening his mouth.

"One hundred and eight."

Xion's eyes were wide. "_Rokusasu,_ what in Pandaemonium-?"

Across Naminé's right arm was a chain. But it was a chain of searing red-hot metal that had been fused into her skin, leaving her arm blazing like some kind of volcanic experiment. The very air that filled her room seemed to be glowing, particles of shining white flowing around her. Now that the loop was complete, some kind of sea-blue energy coursed through the chain, filling each individual link until Naminé's arm seemed to be bound with waves, contrasting brilliantly with the magmic orange burn across the limb.

The witch was completely still for a moment; then her fingers twitched, and slowly her hand crawled towards her head. A heavy, relieved sigh passed through Roxas' lips as Naminé weakly managed to raised her gaze, and the focus returned to her eyes as she faced the yoko who sat there.

"Roxas... Thank... you..."

She winced, and Roxas knelt at her side, rolling her onto her back. She glanced at Xion briefly before letting her head fall towards Roxas again. "Why is... it so hard... for me to... spend time... alone with you?"

A brief chuckle passed through Roxas' lips. Xion's face turned red.

"Naminé, what is this?" she asked, beckoning to the chain around her arm.

"It's a spell channel," Roxas explained. "Naminé wanted to find an easier way to use her magic. It's hard for her to use her sketchbook without drawing it out, but that takes time. With a more..." he searched around for the right word before settling on "_static_ spell channel, it'll be easier for her to just focus on what she wants."

The witch turned to Xion. "What's so important that you need to rush in here, anyways?"

Xion's eyes widened. "Oh, sweet Bahamut, I almost- Naminé, I'm sorry, but I need to borrow _Rokusasu_ for a moment."_  
_

Naminé closed her eyes for a moment, a smile rising on her face. "Can you get me on my bed first?"

"Yeah," Roxas insisted, gently picking her up and lying her down on the mattress. Naminé gave him a brief "thank you", and Roxas nodded before following Xion out into the hallway of the sophomore dorms. "What is it?" he asked as Xion led him outside.

"We've got a serious problem," Xion prompted. "I just found Kairi and Riku unconscious outside the freshman dorms. The bandages were torn off Kairi's neck. There were two fang punctures on her jugular. I saw a couple of holes in her hand - I think that Kadaj guy might have stabbed her through - but they were _closing_."

Roxas' eyes widened. "You think...?"

"We need to tell Sora about this," Xion stated. "I woke up Riku and had him take Kairi back to her dorm room, but we need to let the vampire know."

+x+x+x+

There was a fierce knocking on the door.

Sora gave an irritable growl and glanced at his clock. _2:42_. Upset, he crawled out of bed and fell onto the floor with a loud _thud_ before getting back to his feet, weak.

The knock sounded again, this time almost damaging.

"Hey, watch it!" Sora snapped. "Who's there?" When he didn't get an answer, he stepped up to the door and pulled it open.

Something grabbed onto his crown and pulled. There was a sound of clattering chain as the loop of the rosario was pulled from the single chain, and an incredible monstrous energy ripped up around Sora. As the changes began to shift across him, someone grabbed onto the single chain and dragged him forward.

The clawslinger opened his eyes and found them several inches from Kairi's.

"What. Did. You. Do. To. Me."

+x+x+x+

"_WHAT?!_"

Kairi narrowed her gaze. "You know something about this?"

Sora shook his head. "Kairi, you have _got_ to be kidding me. Are you sure you weren't experiencing some kind of... hallucination? Pain does that sometimes, it's happened to me. There's no way-"

The human girl thrust her hand out. "I got _stabbed_ through this hand," she snapped. "Kadaj drew his twin-blade. What do you see?"

Squinting, the clawslinger looked closely. "...Two white lines."

"Exactly," Kairi prompted. "I didn't make it up. I picked up Loz by the _skull_, you think that's something I can do alone? I don't know of _any_ humans who could pick up any humanoid of their own size with one hand and throw them."

The vampire scoffed angrily, gazing towards the floor. "It doesn't make sense. It couldn't have-"

He was cut off by a knock at the door. With a low growl, Sora got to his feet and stepped towards it, pulling it open to reveal Xion standing there. The snow fairy pulled away in a shock at the sight of the clawslinger standing there.

A sigh passed through his lips. "You again," he muttered, setting a hand to his temple. "Look, I know what Kairi said about taking Sora's opinion into respect, but this is _not_ the time." He turned away, closing the door with a thick _thud_ and clicking the lock shut.

Kairi took a deep breath, causing the vampire to chuckle. "You jealous or something, snack tray?" he mused.

"Shut up," Kairi snapped. "Look, I need you to explain this." She beckoned to the punctures on her neck. "What's going on?"

The clawslinger sighed, stepping forward. "What exactly happened? When did it start? You said you were in pain. Then... then _what?_"

Kairi sighed. "I couldn't walk. I could hardly stand. When Kadaj stabbed me, I couldn't even _move_. All I could do was... scream. Then Yazoo picked me up, and Loz pumped me full of Ramuh. After that..." She winced, setting a hand on her head. "It all just... blurs. The whole fight is a mess of leather and silver hair. Next thing I remember is waking up next to Riku."

"And what do you feel now?" Sora asked.

"Just... a mild pain," Kairi murmured. "It's like it's... creeping up my spine, or something."

The vampire was quiet for a few moments. "Alright, I want you to bandage that. Make it a proper wrap this time. It should abate the symptoms, at least for a while. Let's just hope nothing serious happens."

Kairi nodded. "Got it." She tossed the rosario at him. Sora caught it and clicked the loop onto the single chain, and Kairi stepped past him and out the door as the vampyric changes vanished.

+x+x+x+

"Wait."

Slasher paused with his staff halfway through a swing. The image of Zexion directly in front of him narrowed his gaze, letting his book pages drift but leaving his arm in wingblade mode, as the other two at Slasher's sides pulled back and crossed their arms. "What do you mean, wait?" the one on the sage's right asked.

"There's someone coming. One of your crew. That sadist." Slasher narrowed his gaze. "Seems pissed about something."

Right on cue, the door flung open, and Larxene stepped in. "Mission," she snapped, not wasting time with banter. She just tossed the card at Zexion, who caught it between the pages of his book, and turned away.

"Wait," Zexion mused, shifting his weapon arm back into his hand, "you're not even going to offer?"

Larxene laughed at that. "Yeah right. First of all, you got me on probae. I don't get to take it anyways. Second of all, Axel's already at Nine Flames down Preternatural and I _don't_ want to keep him waiting."

Zexion pulled away as though disgusted. "You've got a _date_?"

"That little witch with the pencil forged his handwriting and he decided to go with it." Larxene didn't talk anymore; she just walked away. Zexion blinked twice as the door closed.

"That was strange," he murmured, turning back towards Slasher. "Class dismissed." As the sage stepped past him, Zexion pulled the mission card out of his book. "_Target: Sora Kingdom, Xion (last name unknown)_" he read to himself. "_Objective: Trap target in school basement room A113. Physical damage permitted. Reward..._"

Zexion narrowed his gaze; the writing under _Reward_ was impossibly small. "What's with this...? _Reward... Y..._" He gave a sighed and slipped the card into the fabric of the back cover of his book before opening it to the last page. "Retribution Volume VI; projection, size thirteen."

The cover lit up, and with a flare of light the massive illusiory image appeared before him. Zexion quickly angled the projection so he could read the card. When he saw what was written on the card, he pulled back in a shock, letting his book hit the ground.

The letters were carved in shining white.

_You know who I am. Don't try to solicit payment from me._

+x+x+x+

_What the hell happened last night?_

Riku splashed water in his face, gazing at his reflection in the mirror. "Okay, focus," he muttered to himself. "Last night... You found Kairi weak on her way to the freshman dorms. She nearly collapsed. Then... then Loz and Yazoo sucker-punched you. What happened, what happened... they were threatening Kairi. Ramuh treatment six feet under. Kadaj got the drop on you, wing out... stabbed you in the shoulder, launch-tazer..."_  
_

The werewolf struck himself in the forehead. "Focus, speedster!" he snapped. "Come on, come on..."

The warning bell went off, and Riku spun round with a heavy curse before grabbing his stuff and taking off.

+x+x+x+

Kairi managed to make it through the class without losing focus. A proper wrap of bandages seemed to be helping, though she did her best to keep them covered up so she wouldn't gather attention. Classes were picking up big-time, and the last thing Kairi needed was attention.

After classes, she was on her way back to her dorm when a voice caught her back. "Kairi, wait up!"

She turned to see Xion approaching. A sigh passed through her lips. "Not now, Xion," she insisted. "I've gotta get some rest, alright?" She turned away, stopped, and turned back. "Hey, you know what was up with Naminé today?"

Xion blinked. "What do you mean?"

"She was wearing a hoodie," Kairi prompted. "She _never_ wears hoodies. She catch a cold or something?"

"Oh!" Xion exclaimed. "That. Um..." Naminé had in fact been wearing a hoodie to hide the chain that Roxas had basically welded onto her arm, saying she needed twenty-four hours for it to heal and begging Xion not to tell anyone about it. "She was... covering that burn. That one from yesterday? She said she didn't want it exposed."

"Wouldn't that be kind of counter-productive?" Kairi asked. "I mean, fabric rubbing against it all day?"

Xion shook her head. "She bandaged it up so there wouldn't be any rubbing," she explained. "Look, speaking of-"

"Later," Kairi insisted. "I'll talk with you all you like later. Come by my room around... nine-ish? We can talk then, I promise. I need to get some rest first. In the meantime, why don't you go ask Sora out. Claws kinda shut you out last night."

"Last night?" Xion asked. "You were-!?"

"See you, Xion!" Kairi prompted, stepping away.

The snowgirl sighed. "Desperate times," she murmured to herself, raising a handful of icefire.

It flew two feet and struck something in midair, freezing it and causing it to fall to the ground.

It was a card. The tip was pointed like a crown.

"Speaking of desperate measures..."

Xion spun round with a gasp to see Zexion Sakkaku standing there, book in hand. His arm was down after a throw, and he raised it before him as it shifted, arcing into a sharpened curve on one side and flaring out on the other.

Zexion lashed out with the dragon wingblade that his arm had become.

Xion caught it with a series of ice claws in her right hand.

Movement behind her caused her to turn in time to see _another_ Zexion land a wicked slash across her side. A scream tore through her lips as she gripped it with her right hand, dropping to the ground to avoid the attacks of both images. The blood quick-froze as her left hands wrapped in ice claws as well, and Xion shot into the air with a spin, landing several shots of icefire across both of them before landing at their side.

A solid fist of ice emerged from each set of cold spikes, slugging the two of him across the face and knocking them out cold.

Xion smirked, snapping her clawed fingers, and the ice finished wrapping around them as Xion turned around. "That ought to keep him out of my-"

Her face collided with fabric.

The snowgirl realized too late that it was _Zexion_.

"...hair..."

The wingblade drove into her shoulder, and Xion's scream was muffled against the spine of Zexion's book as she fell to the ground. Zexion pulled it away, wiping the volume off on his legging before letting it fall open, and a flare of energy ripped up about him as Xion was sent flying. She hit the ground roughly, and Zexion quickly stepped towards her, raising his wingblade to her neck.

"The vampire wants you," he mused. "Which saves me the trouble of tracking him down."

Xion glared, ice wrapping around her shoulder before launching spikes from it at high speed. Zexion caught them in the cover of his book before lashing out with his blade, but Xion only rolled away before rising and lashing out with her claws, digging into his shoulder. As she drew it out, the blood from the wound froze, wrapping around him.

The snowgirl didn't stop there; deadly spikes jut out from the ice wrap in all directions, and Xion only fell to the ground as they shot out everywhere.

A dead hawk landed next to the snowgirl, spike through its throat.

"I think that should suffice this time," Xion mused, putting on the darkest voice she could in hopes of imitating the clawslinger. She stepped towards the frozen image of Zexion. "That _will_ suffice this time, right?"

A reflected image appeared on the ice surface.

Xion spun, grabbing the wingblade midstab and forcing it through the heart of the frozen Zexion before grabbing the face of the attacker and channeling icefire through his face, tearing a scream from him, before freezing him from the inside out.

Then, for good measure, she kicked him between the greaves before the ice had wrapped that up.

A sigh passed through Xion's lips. "Clawslinger would bite me for trying to copy him like that," she mused. She narrowed her gaze. "Or... maybe not." Her eyes fell to the ground. "My blood doesn't smell that bad, does it? He was definitely resisting the urge to sink his fangs-"

A sudden shock caused her to glance at her arm to see a wingblade spiking through her arm.

"...in..."

Xion gave a gasp and fell to the ground, wrapping ice over the wound on instinct as Zexion stepped towards her. "You're getting better," the illusionist admitted. "You and Roxas _never_ lasted four images. Clearly you've been training."

The snow fairy glared. She lashed out, striking both of his legs hard enough to knock him to the ground. She slid forward and caught his stomach on her knees, causing him to double over and right into an ice-clawed fist. Xion grabbed him by the back of his jet-black vest and hurled him over the frozen Zexion-with-his-blade-through-Zexion's heart images.

The schemer landed with his blade in the ground, and as he raised his gaze Xion kicked him in the nose. He flew back, his book flying into the air as the weapon, still firmly in the ground, caused him to land on his back. The blood flowing from his nostrils iced over, wrapped around his face, and then wrapped over him like some kind of imprisoning armour.

Xion sighed, feeling weak. "Five you, and only three hits," she mused. A grim smile rose on her face. "New record. Didn't think I'd last that-."

"Six me."

With a gasp, Xion spun in time to see Zexion slam the spine of his lexicon into Xion's temple, knocking her out cold.

"Four hits."

A grin rose on Zexion's face. "Still a new record, though."

+x+x+x+

"Where _is_ she?"

Sora was kicking around the freshman dorms, waiting for Xion to show up. He was hoping to take her to Sweet Fang, as an apology for how the clawslinger had been acting the previous night. Granted, the clawslinger's actions were justified given the circumstances, but he still felt the need to apologize.

After a while, Sora was surprised to see Roxas stepping out of the dorms, a hand on his forehead. "Hey, Roxas," Sora prompted, "you know where Xion is?"

"She got into a fight of some sort," he replied. "She's probably treating the wounds. She'll be along any minute." She sighed. "Look, Sora-"

"Okay, what the clawslinger said - you know, right before the summer holidays?" When Roxas nodded, the vampire continued, "Yeah, what claws said was overkill. Like, _really_ overkill. But if you're upset about me hanging around with Xion, just say so, alright? I'm willing to back off if you've got a problem with it."

Roxas pulled away. "What? No, I haven't got a problem with you and _Shi-oh_. This has nothing to-"

"Hey, Sora!"

Vampire and yoko both turned to see Xion charging towards them. Sora pulled himself off the wall and started towards her. "Hey, Xion!" he called. "You're looking pretty peachy for coming out of a clash."

Xion giggled at that. "I'm fine, alright? Hey, come on, I want to show you something really cool I found. Come on."

Sora gave a light chuckle of his own. "You're pretty eager. You overdose on the cola after that fight?"

"Just come on!" Xion insisted, grabbing his hand. "Let's get going!"

The two of them took off, and Roxas narrowed his gaze. "_Shi-oh,_ wait-!"

"Oh, leave us alone, Roxas!" she snapped. "Alright?" She and Sora continued forward.

Roxas sighed. Then he frowned. Then his eyes widened in realization, and he raised his gaze. "Wait, _Shi-_"

"Don't even think about it."

The yoko spun to see Zexion standing there menacingly. "You," Roxas growled, his dark Keyblade flaring into his hand. "What do you want, schemer?" he snapped.

Zexion sighed. "Look, I don't know what I got wrong, but I _don't_ have the time for your petty threats, alright? I've got a mission _straight_ from the Superior, and messing it up is going to-"

"The Superior?" Roxas prompted. "Who's that?"

The schemer narrowed his gaze. "You know who I'm talking about," he accused.

Roxas shook his head. "No, I don't," he insisted. "Who are you-?"

The next thing he knew was a wingblade across his neck at a blurred speed.

"Don't mock me."

Roxas gave a strangled choking noise as the cut registered across his throat, falling forward with blood staining the collar of his cloack. Zexion huffed, turning away as his weapon shifted back into his hand. "I suppose you _would_ deliberately suppress that memory, wouldn't you," he mused. "You're a fool, Roxas. The Superior had high hopes for you, but you're just too much trouble. First you defect, taking Xion with you. Then you continue to get in my way. Now you've actually caused enough trouble that our missions are targeting-"

There was a sound like a breaking chain; then a blast of flame caught him in the back, sending Zexion flying.

When he had risen and turned around, there was a canine figure standing there. Its three tails arced into the air, and its mane was styled in an array of spikes that swept to the side.

Its entire body was forged out of fire.

The Keyblade that had fallen to the ground was now in his maw.

**Illusiory bastard.**

Zexion screamed in horror, pulling away as Roxas stepped forward. **Tell me. Where. Is. _Shi-oh._**

"Th-th-the basement," Zexion replied. "R-room A113."

**Smart choice.** Roxas' key vanished in a flurry of icy darkness as he stepped past Zexion.

A thought lit up in Zexion's mind. "Wait... Wait, I should warn you-!"

Roxas spun round, his eyes flaring with a dark light.

Zexion pulled away in fear. "I-I-I I was only told to lure them there," he insisted. "I wasn't t-told to stop anyone from finding them. I fear this m-might be a trap - to trick you into getting imprisoned, or even slain. Perhaps you should... send someone in your stead? Maybe that vampire girl?"

**Vampire girl?**

"Ch-Chikai," Zexion replied. "Ka-Kairi Chikai. The Jenova brothers speak of her as 'the vampire with the fire hair'. Perhaps you should send her?"

Roxas scoffed angrily. **She's in a... sensitive condition. I can't send her in my stead.**

Zexion's eyes widened briefly. Then they narrowed in confusion. "What's her room number?" he asked, concerned.

The yoko raised an eyebrow, but gave him the info.

"There's no one there," he prompted. "That room is empty. I can feel it. How could-?"

**Wait, what?** Roxas spun in a shock. **How could she...? ****_Shit!_** With a spin, Roxas leapt forward, and Zexion smartly got out of the way as he barrelled after where Sora had gone.

There were several moments of silence; then Zexion gave a heavy sigh as his image vanished.

+x+x+x+

"Come on, right around here!"

Sora was confused as to why Xion was taking him deep into the basement, but he was all up for a little adventure. As they reached one hall, Xion started reading the numbers aloud. "A109, one-ten, one-eleven, one-twel- ah! Here we are!" Xion beckoned to the door. "A113. Come on, come on, open it up!"

The vampire shook his head. "You're eager all of a sudden," he mused, reaching for the handle. It wouldn't turn, but with a roll of his eyes he formed his Keyblade in hand and tapped the lock, hearing a click. With a single fluid motion he faded his Key, grabbed the knob, and pushed the door open.

In there was _Xion._

_Chained to a wall._

**_With a gag over her mouth._**

"What the-?" Sora spun to the figure at the door.

It wasn't Xion.

Zexion Sakkaku was standing there, his silvery-blue hair drifting over his eyes with an annoyed look over his face. His book was in his left hand, and with a sigh, he prompted, "Please tell me she's not really _quite_ so happy-go-lucky out of battle."

Sora leapt back, bracing his Key in hand. "You! What are-?"

"Well?" Zexion raised an eyebrow.

The vampire grit his teeth. "I should have seen it coming, but... no, she's not."

"Good," the schemer sighed, closing his book. "I don't have much firsthand experience with her out of battle, so I fear I might have gone overboard. I went through five falsifications fighting her, I don't want to have that been against someone quite so excitable."

Sora lashed out with his Keyblade. Zexion caught that against his right hand, which Sora realized had taken form of a dragon wingblade not unlike Riku's Soul Eater. With a single movement, Zexion had sent his Keyblade clattering out of his hand, struck him across the face with the cover of his book, and landed a heavy kick on his stomach, sending him flying into the wall. Chains lashed down from nowhere, wrapping around his arms and legs and pinning him to the surface.

"What the..."

There was no warning; suddenly, Zexion was dead in front of Sora, wrapping a thick gag around his mouth. "Keep quiet," he snapped boredly. "I haven't had time to soundproof this room yet." He pulled away and opened up his book; the pages began to turn of their own accord. "Now, if I remember correctly, these rooms haven't been used in six years..."

He set his finger against a page before it passed, causing the book to stop moving, and arcane words began to flow from his mouth, twisting through the air and wrapping a thick darkness through the air.

When it parted, Sora and Xion were against the wall of a massive arena, dark in the shadows.

There was one entry; the stairwell on the other side of the room.

Zexion closed his book, bracing his wingblade-arm over his shoulder. "There. That should leave some combat room."

"Why are you doing this?" Sora shouted through his gag.

A snap of Zexion's fingers caused the gag to thicken. "I have orders to trap you here. I'm not sure why, but I believe the Superior should be arriving fairly..."

"Did I miss anything, Sakkaku?"

Zexion turned to see Larxene Kaminari stepping towards him. Sora swore through his gag as the schemer gave an irritated sigh. "Make up your mind, do you have a date or are you here to piss me off?"

Larxene angled her head from side to side. "Neither," she mused gleefully. "Now bitch off. Your job's done."

"My mission was to trap them here," Zexion snapped. "And that means keeping them here."

"No," Larxene corrected, "your job was to trap them here and that means getting them in here and _staying out of my way_. Or do you want the Superior to hear about this?"

Zexion growled. "The Superior _gave_ me that mission."

Larxene pulled away, eyebrow raised. "Oh, come on," she mused, "I'm not that good. My handwriting's terrible. _Why do you think I had it printed so monochrome?_"

"That was _you?_" Zexion shouted.

"_Target: Sora Kingdom, Shy-on (last name unknown),_" Larxene recited. "_Objective: Trap target in school basement room A113. Physical damage permitted. Reward: You know who I am, don't try to solicit a reward from me._ Yeesh, I didn't think you could type that small and still have it print clean. You have a really high quality printer, you know that?"

Zexion lashed out with his wingblade-arm.

Larxene countered by catching it on the knives jutting out of her palm between her fingers. "I never spoke or wrote a single. False. Word. I _can't_ do missions, you've got me on probae. So I had you do it for me. I _did_ have a date with Axel at Nine Flames and I didn't want to keep him waiting, but he was gone when I got there, and so I decided to show up early. You _do_ know who I am. And thankfully, you didn't try to solicit a reward from me."

The sadist raised her other set of knives to Zexion's neck.

"Now get out of here."

The illusionist gave a low growl before opening his book. A flare of dark magic wrapped around him; when it faded, he was gone.

A smirk rose on Larxene's face as she retracted her knives into her palms, turning to Sora. "See, spikes, here's how it's gonna work. You're here. The ice is here. With that in mind, hot coffee Roxas isn't coming because he's gonna think it's a trap. And he's right. Thing is, your little cherry soda girlfriend isn't going to be so clever, because all she's gonna get is that her bloodsucker's got chained by the bad guys."_  
_

She turned to the stairwell, stepping towards the center of the room. "Which means she'll be walking in on three... two... one..."

Nothing.

Larxene narrowed her gaze. "Three... two... one..."

Still nothing.

"Ah, hell with it," she muttered. "I've gotta practice anyways." She reached into her pocket, drawing out what appeared to be a pair of tazers, chained together at the handles. "Let's see, let's see..." Holding the weapons by the electrical ends with her fingertips, she let her knives extend, coursing between her fingers.

Footsteps sounded, and Larxene turned to see Kairi stepping down in time to see who was on the wall.

"Sora!" she screamed.

As she started to run, Larxene growled. "_Now_ you show up," she snapped angrily.

With a single fast movement, the sadist slammed the tazers into her palms.

Electricity coursed across her arms, and as Kairi drew near she lashed out with a single kick. The blow sent Kairi skidding across the basement floor, but that wasn't the weirdest thing. Sora saw Larxene spin back, skidding towards the chained duo; but he also saw Larxene _flying with the kick_, landing on the other side of Kairi with her hands empty.

Both sadists braced their knives in hand, and voltage began to dance between each pair of hands.

"Come on, Chikai, let's play!"_  
_

Kairi struggled to her feet, gripping her neck weakly as she rose. The Larxene near Sora and Xion lashed out with the electricity like a sorcerer, blasting Kairi in the torso and right into the other Larxene's hands. As _that_ Larxene caught Kairi by the arms, voltage began to rip across Kairi's body, and the human girl screamed as Sora tried to thrash against his bonds.

_No, Kairi!_

The monstrel at the stairwell threw Kairi to the ground as the other one clashed her knife-claws together, sending sparks on the ground; then the sphere of lightning appeared in her hands proper, and she gave an absolutely _torturous_ laugh as the other Larxene did the same.

"Oh, I'm starting to see why Sakkaku likes his illusions so much!" she shouted. "But this is even better! Because I get to _feel it **all!**_"

As Kairi got to her feet again, both Larxenes rushed her.

"_Time to die, **vampire!**_"

Both of them lashed out, knives needling for Kairi's heart.

And Kairi's eyes snapped open, the irises flooding with gold.

With a single swift movement, Kairi was gone; the two monstrels skidded to a stop inches from each other, and both turned to see Kairi slowly stepping towards Sora. There was a shock in the vampire's eyes as she stepped towards him; the human girl came to a stop, her head and neck twitching in pain. She reached out for Sora, but only ended up tearing off his gag.

"Kairi...?"

She reached again; this time her hand hooked in the rosario loop, and she raised her gaze towards him as she pulled the crown from his neck.

Her left eye was still shining like sea.

Her right was flooded with blood.

"Less jaw, more claw."

A surge of monstrous energy tore up around Sora, shattering the chains that bound him to the wall. As the Larxenes shot towards him, there was no contest; the transformation didn't even need to become complete. The vampire's fingers were an inch into the steel _before_ his fingernails shifted into pin tumbler claws. He lashed out with a flying split-kick - halfway through the air, his hair turned jet-black, and as he landed the fire rose in the shadows, staining his hair red by the root but not up to the tip. His skin paled as he rose from his feral stance, standing tall as the two sadists tried to recover, attempting to rise and not succeeding.

_Then_ his eyes snapped open, and a flood of gold filled his irises before condensing to a ring between shadow and blood.

"Playtime's over."

A muffled voice and movement nearby caused Kairi to turn to see Xion starting to wake, struggling weakly against her bonds. Without hesitation, she pulled the fabric from across her mouth; then, with a single strike, she snapped the chains binding her to the wall, letting the snow fairy fall to the ground.

Sora spun. "Xion," he murmured, stepping towards her. "What happened to you?"

"Not important," she insisted, starting to rise. "Listen, you two need to-"

"Don't give me that 'not important' crap, Xion," Kairi insisted. "You _never_ go down easy. How did-?"

"I said _listen_," Xion snapped.

The human girl shook her head. "I'm not going to listen unless you tell me how Zexi-"

"_Kairi, you're **dying.**_"

* * *

Draco: Early morning special with a side of _Hori_ _**kuso.**_ Let's see, this is only the second cliff, so I'm afraid we've got, what... eleven more? Sorry about that. Enjoy!


	23. Shining Shadows

Draco: I ain't got nothing but the disclaim on this end. Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 23: Shining Shadows**

"_Kairi, you're __**dying.**_"

Those words brought an abrupt halt to everything in the room. Kairi's eyes went wide. Sora pulled back in a shock.

"I'm... I'm _what?_"

Xion sighed angrily, tapping Kairi's neck, and the human girl winced in pain as her fingers caught the fang marks on her jugular. "_This_," she stated, "isn't some regular infection that showed up because Saïx covered you in moonshine. That's a _sign_ of the corrosion that's going through you _right now._"_  
_

The clawslinger shook his head. "Corrosion?" he asked. "What are you talking about? My blood _heals_ Kairi. It doesn't-"

"It gives her the _power of the vampire_," Xion snapped. "There's no 'heal' about it. What your blood does is give Kairi a shot of the pure darkness running through this-" and here she tapped Sora's chest meaningfully "-long enough to keep her alive. Your a vampire. You know how much they can go through. The only reason Kairi hasn't died four times over is because of the vampyric healing ability that _your blood_ is bestowing upon her."

She turned back to Kairi. "Thing is, all that doesn't mean _shit_ if you pump too much in." The snowgirl sighed. "Basically, how it works is, what's been keeping you alive until now has begun to kill you. The vampire's essence has begun corroding your humanity. If your body gets put under harsh conditions, you're going to end up like Kadaj."_  
_

Kairi raised an eyebrow. "One-winged and sadistic?"

"_Monstrous and bloodthirsty,_" Xion snapped.

The human girl's eyes widened, and she set a hand on her heart. "No..."

Sora turned to Xion. "Tell me, _how can we stop it?_"

"There's one way to do this," Xion insisted, turning back to Kairi. "We need to get you to the human world. _Now_. That will give your body enough time to lock away the vampire blood where it won't do any damage. But that means you can't have _anything_ to do with Yokai Academy or the world of monsters _ever again._"

"Are you crazy?" Kairi demanded. "I can't just... just _leave!_ What am I going to tell everyone? 'Oh, hi, jerks! I missed you bunch of jackasses! Sorry I'm here again, I'm kind of _an Ifrit-Glaciated **vampire!**_' You're not seriously going to listen to her, are you Sora?"

Sora grit his fangs together, clenching his fists. His eyes were closed tight. Finally, he let out a heavy breath and raised his gaze to Kairi. "She's right. You need to go."

Kairi turned. "Wha-? Sora, come on, how can you just tell me to leave? I'm your _snack tray!_ You're saying-"_  
_

"I'm saying you need to pay attention," the clawslinger snapped, his hair darkening. "This is serious. It's not _me_ you're going to be missing. It's _Sora_. I'm just the bodyguard who happens to show up when things get dark. And you're getting us confused. Alright? Whatever happens with you and the Keyslinger and this slushie-spitting _kitsune_ has _nothing_ to do with me."

The human girl was in shock. "But..."

The area began to quake. Everyone looked around in shock, wondering what the hell was going on; then, raising her gaze, Kairi saw the floor vanishing in portions, as though the basement was still hallway and doors, and room by room by utterly random room the floor began to fade in a flare of white.

"Sweet lord Bahamut, look out!"

The others turned in time to see the Larxenes fall as room A012 vanished.

Then room A113 faded as well, and all three of them screamed as they plummetted down, down, down - and Kairi saw both Larxenes skidding the knife-claws of one hand against the wall. Both of them raised the set in their other hand towards the clawslinger, and _lighting_ began to gather between the voltic weapons.

When she spoke, it was clear; she had gone into mad-wild mission mode

"No one makes a fool out of _me!_"

The lightning fired, and Kairi's scream echoed around them as it neared the falling vampire.

+x+x+x+

"Roxas!"

The dashing yoko spun to see Riku charging towards him at top speed. He skidded to a stop, kicking up flames, and turned with his tails raised as the werewolf stopped near him. "Where's Kairi?"

**She's in the school**** basement,** Roxas stated.** Room A113. Look, Kurai, I need you to find Naminé and bring her to the basement, alright? Go!**

Riku was shocked. "I don't take-"

It was then that the earth seemed to quake, causing both of them to look round worriedly. Roxas' canine eyes widened, and he snapped round to Riku.

**I said** **_go!_**

"R-Right! I'm going!" Riku turned round and ran, and Roxas only resumed his flaming dash, putting on twice as much speed as before.

+x+x+x+

"What the...?"

The vampire opened his eyes to see they had reached the pit of Larxene's trap. It was a garden - flowers were blooming around them, sunflowers, daisies, violets, tulips. Central to the area, with all the other flowers surrounding it, was a massive collection of roses - bloodred wraps of petals, the kind you would bring to a graduation... or a funeral.

And lying there was Kairi, her body twitching with voltage.

"_Kairi!_"

The clawslinger shot forward. Xion was already on her feet, lying next to Kairi; the attack had not left any wounds aside from two deadly burn marks on her back, but the damage was _internal;_ there was nothing they could do to help it.

"You _idiot!_" he snapped. "What were you _thinking?_ I'm a Ramuh-damned _vampire!_ You actually thought I needed _help?!_ What in the name of _Shiva_ made you think I needed _you_ to protect me? Don't even _think_ about doing that again!"

Kairi opened her eyes weakly to find the vampire glaring at her. A skidding scrape caused him to turn to see the Larxenes dropping off the wall and landing on the ground; one landed in the sunflowers, the other landed in the tulips. With a growl, the clawslinger turned around and glared at Kairi.

"You. Hold. The_ hell._ **Still.** I'm gonna get you out of here _alive_ if it takes _Pandaemonium_ to get her to shut up." He got to his feet and turned to face Larxene.

"And _you._ I hope you're ready for a hot plate of punishment. Because I _don't_ have time for this shit."

Larxene smirked. Both of them. "Oh yeah," they screeched, bracing their knives ready. "This is gonna be fun."

The monstrels shot forward.

The vampire shot forward.

They collided in the center, and Larxene found herselves with a set of claws through one's left hand and one's right hand.

The clawslinger gave a feral roar as he lashed them down, skidding across the ground, before hurling them into the air. With a single swift movement, the vampire shot into the air, grabbed the two sadists, and hurled them into the ground, one at a time.

Larxene collided with the ground.

The second Larxene _melted_ into the first.

A growl caused her to raise her gaze as the clawslinger landed before her, swiftly lashing out with a kick that knocked her onto her back. He smirked menacingly at the wreck that was left before getting to her feet and stepping towards Kairi again.

"Get up. Can you get up? Snowgirl, get her up."

Xion nodded, stepping towards Kairi, and the human girl managed to get to her feet before a high-pitched chuckling caused them to turn.

"Oh, you could _never_ get it right, could you, Larxene?"

Xion swore. "_Marluxia?_"

Professor Scythe was indeed standing there, his vibrant pink hair flowing behind him, his robes dancing around him. In his hand- no, _in place_ of his hand was a long, deadly scythe with a sharpened blade, and as they watched he stepped towards them, scraping the weapon across the ground.

The vampire growled. "You... what do _you_ want?"

Marluxia rolled his eyes. "Arubboth, you're thick. I'm here for the same reason _she's_ here." He beckoned to Larxene.

"Sadism?"

"Oh, gods," Marluxia muttered, setting his empty hand against his helm. "_Monstrels,_ damn it! You think that little snap about the snow fairy went unnoticed? Most of the _school_ heard it, and those that didn't were _asleep._"

The vampire narrowed his gaze. "You mean-?"

"Not _that!_" Larxene shouted, stopping him.

"When you were speaking with Roxas," Marluxia replied. "How did you phrase it? That girl _reeks_ like some kind of monstrel got bit by a Kyonshi and _decided to let it run. Like. Sleipnir._" A grin arced across his face. "That tells us firsthand you know what kind of power that means. Monstrels - we've got the _brute force_ down, but without a little speed, a way to _close the range_, we're _nothing_."

A grin arced across his face. "That's where _you_ and _Chikai_ come in. A vampire has enough raw efficiency to make range _not matter_. And your body's natural healing _takes care_ of the battle scars. _You_ will be our weapon. _You_ will be our ultimate force."

The clawslinger growled. "You can't control me."

"We don't need to," Marluxia countered. "We have enough minds on our team. A syringe, a scalpel, a little needle and thread - all we need is your _presence_. After that..." A chuckle. "The power is _ours,_ to use as we please."

"And how do you plan to do that?" the vampire prompted.

Larxene drove her knives into the wall and twisted.

Nothing.

Confused, the sadist turned to the wall, pulling her knives out. "Crap, I missed," she muttered, retracting the weapons and reaching in. "To the left, then."

She pulled her arm out of the wall, took two steps to the left, and drove her knives in, twisting again - and this time, a _torrent of water_ arced out of the wall.

Xion _screamed_. "Sora!" Claws of ice arced over her hand as she lashed it out, and the ice quick-froze, starting from the end several inches from the vampire and snaking towards the pipe at flight speed. Marluxia stopped it from completing, crushing the ice and lashing out towards Xion as the water continued to fly

The strike sent the snow fairy flying, leaving nothing to stop the torrent from slamming into the clawslinger's face.

A tormented shout tore from the vamp's lips as he raised his hands before him, his monstrous energy sparking around him like an EMP as he skidded back from the force of the water. Marluxia rushed forward, moving at ungodly speeds, his scythe swinging way too fast.

Which left him very surprised when a blur of red hair flew in front of it, and his attack was stopped from connecting.

Kairi was standing there, her left arm lined up along the blade of the scythe, her right raised behind it for more resistance. As Marluxia applied more pressure, Kairi angled her body to catch it on her shoulder, not even caring about the cuts that opened up on her back.

Her irises were flooded with bloodred as she kept fighting, and when she raised her gaze to lock eyes with Marluxia, the corneas flared a menacing gold.

The vampire several inches from the scythe screamed. "_**KAIRIII!**_"

+x+x+x+

"Where is it, where is it, where is it..."

Naminé was in her room, looking furiously through her closet. After taking a long rest to recover her arm, Naminé had decided to test her new magic channel, make sure that the arcana infusion been completed, but first she needed some proper tests - it was still sensitive, so she needed to start gently. The problem: her closet was an absolute _mess;_ finding what she was looking for was taking _way_ too long.

Finally, the witch surfaced with a clean new sketchbook in her hands. "Here we are," she mused. She glanced over her floor and found her old, almost empty previous book lying there on her last image. As she picked it up, she glanced in distaste at the sight of her soundproofing image. "Roxas was right, that _is_ horrible," she admitted._  
_

With a shake of her head, she turned the page, drawing her pencil. Running it over the paper, she watched as her witch magic flowed from her nearly filled sketchbook to the empty one; when it was complete, Naminé picked up the old one and tossed it towards the trash.

The door flew open. The book hit Riku in the face.

Naminé turned. "Riku? What is-?"

"Naminé, we've gotta get going, _now_," Riku stated. "Roxas is on his way to the school basement. Kairi's in trouble - I think Sora and Xion are down there. We need to _go_. Something's wrong with Kairi and we're going to need _all_ of us if we want to get them out of there."

"But-!" Naminé sighed, glancing at the sleeve of her hoodie over her right arm, hiding her secret weapon. "Fine, fine! Let's go!"

She got to her feet, chasing Riku out of the room.

+x+x+x+

Roxas ran into a problem on his way to the basement.

Specifically, he ran into a _door_.

The yoko stumbled back after the collision, confused as to _why_ the door to the basement was shut if Sora and Zexion had just passed through not too long ago. He tried to force it open. No such luck. He tried to strike it down. The thing absorbed the heat of his blows. His Keyblade appeared in his mouth. It flew out when it came within a foot of the door.

**Okay, that's not right,** Roxas muttered to himself. He cursed. **I know Kairi's been through here, but if I can't get in-**

There was a menacing scream, and Roxas leapt back. _**Shi-oh!** _A roar of pain. **Sora! **He lashed out against the door, trying to break through, but to no avail.**  
**

"Roxas!"

With a snap, Roxas turned to see Riku and Naminé approaching. The yoko sighed. **I can't get through. We need to get through! Help me out!**

It was then that the clawslinger's shout pierced the air.

"_**KAIRIIII!**_"

+x+x+x+

The vampire managed to get his eyes open.

Kairi was lying on the ground, struggling to rise. The human girl had massive cuts arcing across her back and arms, and as her eyes opened, their light was faded. As the clawslinger watched, she tried to rise, only for her arms to collapse as soon as she tried to put the lightest weight on them.

Marluxia arced his scythe into a wheel motion. "This is getting fun," he mused, turning to Larxene.

"I told you Chikai's a show and a half," Larxene mused.

The vampire roared.

"You _idiot!_" he screamed. "What is _wrong_ with you? If your body takes any more, the very _fabric_ of your being is going to _tear itself apart_ from the _inside!_ And I can't heal you anymore! My blood's only going to _ruin_ you! Did you actually think I _needed_ your help? I'm a _Nosferatu__, _Asura damn it!"

Kairi's hand closed around his shirt.

"Give... it... to me..."

The clawslinger's eyes widened. "What...?"

The human girl was struggling to focus her eyes. "I need... I don't... want you... killing... yourself... for me." She winced. "I... I don't care... anymore..." She dragged the vampire down.

"Give... me... your... blood..."

"No, Kairi," the clawslinger demanded. "I told you, you need to stop confusing _him_ and _me._ I _get it_, alright!? _Sora's_ the one you keep giving up for! _That's_ why you keep playing salad bar! And you need to _cut it out!_"

Marluxia gave an irritated sigh. "Larxene," he prompted, turning to the sadist.

Larxene chuckeld, turning to him. "Yes?"

"Do me a favour and water the flowers."

Xion turned. "No...!"

"Can do," Larxene replied, and she thrust her knives into the water stream.

A surge of electricity arced up the pipe and _tore the wall open_, sending a stream of water flying towards them. Xion tried to quick-freeze it, but too soon did Marluxia drive his scythe-arm into the earth, sending roses tearing towards Xion and launching her into the wall.

The shower slammed into the clawslinger full-force, and a roar tore from his lips. He felt Kairi's hands on his face as she dragged him down.

"It's... not for... _him_," she gasped. "It's... it's _both..._ of... you..."

A choking cough tore from her lips as blood began to flow from her mouth, and she fell to the ground weakly as the vampire standing over her tried to fight against the onslaught.

A single vampyric tear flowed down his eyes.

"You foolish _human_," he gasped.

Slowly, he leaned towards her.

"If you die, I'm gonna kill you for leaving me alone."

And he sank his fangs into her neck, pumping his blood into her veins.

There was silence...

Silence...

Raw, unbearable quiet...

Then the vampire closed his eyes tight, letting himself fall away.

And a hand caught his back, propping him upright.

The clawslinger's eyes snapped open.

_...Kairi?_

Kairi was kneeling over him, a dark focus in her eyes. The bandages that had been around her neck had washed away, displaying a clear view of the fang punctures over her jugular. As the vampire watched, Kairi got to her feet menacingly, and blood seemed to flow from the punctures - except it didn't just flow, it _arced_ across her neck, forming a kind of web.

Marluxia sighed, pulling his scythe out of the ground and preparing to fight as Larxene braced her knives like a demonic nymph.

"Time for a _real_ show."

* * *

Draco: Gods, this is the third time I've had to cut it short of 4000 and this one's a freaking _cliffhanger!_ I'm sorry, guys, but I won't be able to kick it open properly if I don't stop here.

Oh, yeah, Riven? _Now_ ** about to go down.


	24. Demon With Angel's Wings

Draco: Oh, gods. _Yes_, that title will have some serious, _literal_ meaning. Just not now. I'm sorry. Also, to those of you wondering why I stopped calling the clawslinger 'Sora' except in dialogue...

Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 24: Demon With Angel's Wings**

The cuts across Kairi's arms at first didn't seem to heal. But after a moment, Xion realised they _had_ **already** healed; something was flowing across her skin, crafting a feathered pattern across her arms like wings. Her gaze was faded, but her irises were still a deadly bloodred. Her hair had gone heated-obsidian, but slowly, portions of that darkness were shifting, rising and fading to a much brighter hue. Her fingernails were sharpened into crude claws, straight-edged darkness. The punctures on her neck seemed to be bleeding, but it wasn't blood falling; it was a series of marks, flowing across her neck like some kind of ancient writings.

_No..._

The vampire narrowed his gaze. _What's going on? That shouldn't have worked so well. Why isn't she...?_

Larxene huffed amusedly. "That power... that's you alright. Yet you take the water like a human in the shower." A light chuckle passed through her lips. "Does that mean your power's so little that there's not enough to spark? Or you've got so much that it can't be forced out?"

"Hardly matters," Marluxia prompted, bracing his scythe to swing. "It's time for a fight."

He shot forward.

Larxene shot forward.

The clawslinger was the first to realize that Kairi was already reloading.

"Ho_ly_ _**shit!**_"

Before either of the monstrels could react, the scarred terror that was Kairi Chikai was already behind them, arms crossed before her.

Marluxia gave a gasp of horror and fell to the ground.

Kairi spun as the marks across her neck rose, shadowing over her jaw and clawing across her face; and as Larxene turned to face her, Chikai gave an absolutely horrific _screech_.

+x+x+x+

"Roxas, it's _not opening!_"

Naminé's observation caused Roxas to growl angrily. The two of them and Riku had been desperately trying to break the door open, to no avail, and their attempts had only been reinforced by the constant cries of battle from below. **That's it,** he stated. **We haven't got a choice. Both of you, _out_ _of the way._**

Riku and Naminé exchanged glances and stepped back, running far away as Roxas raised his tails high. Flames began to gather towards the tips as he lashed them round once, twice, thrice, gathering more and more fire until he seemed to be surrounded in a flaming wind.

Roxas raised his gaze to Arubboth.

**Vortex of Fire!**

The ignitive whirlwind tore towards the entryway and enveloped it in a damn near _lethal_ explosion, whiting out everything around it.

When it faded, the only sign there had ever been an entry there was a burnt scar on the earth around a stairwell.

Naminé approached the area warily, and she seemed about to say something when an unfamiliar piercing scream of horror echoed through the air.

Roxas' canine eyes went wide. **Why is _Larxene Kaminari SCREAMING?!_**

He leapt down the stairs with a rush of flame, leaving Naminé and Riku to chase after him.

+x+x+x+

Larxene slammed into the ground as Kairi shot towards her, digging her claws into the monstrel's back. Another scream tore from the sadist's lips before Chikai hurled her into the steel wall, trapping her seven feet in before charging after her.

The clawslinger was trying to gather the strength to rise against the water when Xion arrived at his side. "Sora, what the _hell_ were you-?"

"Stop. Calling. Me. That."

Xion pulled away in shock as the vampire struggled against the flow he had been trapped against. "She _insisted_. She threw herself in front of the attack and_ ordered_ me to inject her with my blood. I told her it was too late, but... I couldn't stop her."

Marluxia managed to get to his feet as Larxene flew past him. With Kairi charging towards him, the dark professor arced his scythe around, aiming to impale Chikai through the heart; but she was too fast, too swift - she not only evaded the attack, she grabbed the scythe of his arm by the blade and _snapped_ it, wrenching a tortured shout from his mouth as Kairi slammed a kick into his chest.

The flower boy slammed into the wall as Larxene rushed forward, knives drawn - but it was in vain, and she _knew_ it. The most that Larxene Kaminari had hoped to achieve by running full-throttle into the demon Kairi had become was that she could buy enough time for Chikai's friends to _bring her to her senses._

She could handle the pain - but not for long.

Kairi grabbed Larxene's's hand by the fingers and _crushed_ her knives together, tearing a third scream from the sadist before Chikai grabbed Larxene by the neck.

She had already begun to strangle the monstrel when they dropped down.

A burst of fire knocked Kairi off her feet. Larxene had time to draw a breath before she slammed into the wall again - though not _nearly_ so forcefully - and Sora and Xion turned to see the flame-forged image of a fox standing there, three tails blazing in the air around it. Slipping off his back was Naminé, sketchbook in hand, and sliding down the wall was Riku, Soul Eater in hand._  
_

"_Rokusasu,_" Xion gasped.

**Why the hell is it raining in here?** Roxas demanded.

That was all he had time to say before a single strike sent him flying, crashing into the wall. Kairi was on her feet again, her body blazing, and Naminé screamed, leaping away in a fright as Kairi lashed out towards her.

"Sweet merciful Leviath, tell me that's _not_-" She turned to the vampire in desperation.

He only nodded. "Blood of _Nosferatu_, rend the flesh of an innocent... A demon of my creation."_  
_

Riku tried to rush forward, lashing Soul Eater out with a downstrike; but Kairi only arced into a spin, grabbing his blade, clawing his arm, and landing a kick on his stomach before she had reached one-eighty. Riku was sent flying, Chikai's claws tearing across the limb as Kairi let the dragon wingblade fall to the ground.

She raised her bloodied fingers before her... _and licked the blood off._

Naminé's scream died on the way out.

Roxas pulled himself out of the wall, his tails whipping around him and gathering flames as Kairi shot towards him. The yoko roared, arcing into a leap and hurling the whirlwind flames towards her as she tried to attack - the Vortex of Fire consumed Kairi and _exploded._

The witch was in horror. "Roxas, you just-"

**That's not gonna be enough,** Roxas growled.** Naminé, you need to go, _now!_**

"What the _hell_ happened to Kairi?!" Naminé screamed, turning to the clawslinger at her side.

He closed his eyes weakly. "Blood. My blood. The power of the vampire has taken over Kairi's body. Her mind is shattered, her soul is... it's practically _nonexistent._" He winced.

"A ghoul. Kairi Chikai is now nothing but a heartless monster."

_**Bite-Sized Monster Encyclopedia: Ghoul  
**Created when an evil spirit possesses a corpse. Favourite food: Human meat. Feeds on children and cavaders exhumed from graves. Weakness: the divine and spiritual. They avoid religious symbols._

The smoke cleared from Roxas' attack - but Kairi was still standing there, competely unharmed - the only sign that the Vortex of Fire had ever occured was the radius of blazing flowers around her. As she stepped towards him, death in her eyes, Roxas opened his maw to call his weapon to hand.

Xion winced. "_Rokusasu,_ **now!**"

Kairi lashed out.

Roxas leapt into the air.

He hit the ground and _exploded,_ sending Kairi flying again.

When she got to her feet, Roxas was still standing there - but he was no longer the flame-forged fox that the group had familiarized themselves with. His figure was humanoid once again; but his image was constantly shifting, for it was crafted from pure noval heat. Fox ears rose from his helm, clashing against the windswept spikes of his hair, and the trio of tails flared from his waist area.

Kairi shot forward and lashed out.

Roxas raised his right hand skyward, across his face, and the moment her strike connected with his forearm there was a tearing scream, like metal shearing together. The ghoul that Kairi had become pulled away as though bitten; and Sora saw the chains bound around Roxas' arm.

A flare of icy darkness tore from his right palm, and his dark Key was in hand.

Xion bit her lip forcefully and formed her own shining Keyblade in hand; then, shocking nearly everyone present, she hurled it to Roxas, the weapon arcing through the air teeth over chain.

Roxas snatched it out of the air with a spin before bracing both weapons before him; light Key in his left hand, dark Key in his right.

He and Kairi stood there, immobile, for several moments.

Then the ghoul lashed out, her hand flying right for Roxas' heart. The yoko caught the strike on the light Key before lashing out with the dark, landing a heavy blow across Kairi's shoulder; Chikai only grabbed the weapon and used it as leverage before lashing out with a kick. Kaigara leapt over it, swinging the light Key towards her helm; but Kairi only arced around it, releasing the dark Key and landing on the ground with enough force to leave deadly indents.

She struck out with a straight-arm blow, but Roxas leapt away, hurling the light Key halfway through a spin and then completing it to send the dark Key flying after it. The ghoul lashed out at both attacks, sending them flying into the walls, before rushing towards Roxas and slamming a fist into his stomach.

Roxas collided with the wall.

The wall _cracked for thirteen meters **in any given direction.**_

A blade across Kairi's face caused her to turn to see Riku stuck in his own bend in the wall, arm down after a throw. Kairi leapt towards him, but the werewolf only leapt away, leaving Kairi to collide with the steel. She dug her claws in and chased towards Riku, only to find herself knocked out of the flight with Roxas' dark Key. Chikai gave a menacing screech as she tore herself down the wall, leaping towards him, but the yoko only let himself fall from the center of the cracks, hurling his light Key towards Kairi as he did so.

The ghoul struck the weapon out of the way mid-flight; she grabbed the wall upside-down like a spider and pulled herself into a feral, flying tackle towards Roxas, aiming for his face. Kaigara only skidded across the ground, rising near the torn pipe that was torrenting over the area.

A thought occured to him.

He slammed his hand into the pipe, and the steel around what had been torn _blazed_, melting into place and sealing the water away.

As the last few drops fell away, the clawslinger managed to get to his feet. Naminé and Xion turned towards him, but he had his gaze locked on Kairi, who was making her way towards Roxas.

"You can't," Xion insisted. "You're too weak."

"I need blood," the vampire growled, turning to her. "Are you offering?"

Xion glared. "You're not gonna spit it out for the stench?" she snapped._  
_

"Kairi had descended into ghouldom," the clawslinger snapped. "I'm _not_ in the mood. Are you offering, or not."

The snow fairy scoffed angrily, but loosed an irritable sigh and drew back the collar of her cloak, giving him access to her jugular vein.

"You better make this work, Kingdom."

The vampire's claw dug into the peak of her back, right between her shoulder blades, and he dragged her closer, growling into her ear.

"_Stop. Calling. Me. That."_

Then he bit into Xion's neck, and the snowgirl gave a gasp of pain as she felt her blood flow past his fangs.

Roxas was not faring well. Kairi kept lashing away every attack he threw at her, and her own attacks were starting to leave marks - _ice patches_ in the flames, bruises on a noval body. Even now, as he leapt skyward, she leapt after him, past him, and landed a kick that sent him flying to the ground, ripping up a hellious scar upon the earth as the blazing figure of Roxas came to a stop at the feet of Naminé, Xion, and the bloodsucking vampire.

The clawslinger pulled away from the snowgirl, running his tongue over his teeth, and loosed a menacing grin as Xion stumbled back. "Guess the scent ain't everything," he chuckled darkly, turning to face Kairi.

His smile fell as he stepped forward.

Kairi started stepping towards him.

"Don't make me do this, Kairi," he prompted. "You're in there somewhere. I _know_ you're in there."

The ghoul didn't even respond.

"These are your friends. You're fighting mindlessly. You need to _snap out of it._"

Chikai's steps started to accelerate.

The clawslinger closed his eyes and loosed a deep breath as his hair began to darken, the fire fading and leaving him with a helm wrapped in shadows, and he crossed his arms before him.

"Told you I wasn't going to make this easy on you."

With a single swift movement, the vampire lashed his hands down and raised his gaze to the heavens.

And _pure, raw power_ tore out around him with enough force to send Kairi skidding back.

The clawslinger lifted off the ground as shadows arced towards him, curling into fetal position as they wrapped around him, expanding to form a deadly sphere of pure darkness. Kairi tried to strike it, but the shadows only sent her flying, knocking her back across the room. Everyone stepped away, the flame-wrapped Roxas stumbling to his feet as the sphere frosted over with a holy white darkness... and _shattered_, falling to the ground and vanishing as it connected with the flowers below.

The vampire lashed out his arms and legs, head raised to the sky - but his garments had become a thousand times more demonic. He was wrapped in a bodysuit of what anyone could have _sworn_ was muscle tissue - necrous black that faded to bloodred over the hands, and a bloodred pattern scarred over the torso. Three belts wove around his waist, holding a split kilt of some shadowy black fibre. His feet were covered in brown leather, with steel soles at least an inch thick, and as the group watched he slowly dropped to the ground, eyes closed.

His gaze returned as his eyes snapped open - and the blood was lost from his irises, which shone a demonic gold.

When he spoke, his voice no longer resembled Sora's; it was black with pure darkness in his heart.

"**Vanitas vanitatum, omnia vanitas.**"

Kairi lashed out - a straight-arm knifehand blow.

The strike passed through the vampire's heart as though he wasn't there.

Which would probably explain why he was in the air behind her as the afterimage vanished.

He lashed down with a falling roundhouse kick that sent Kairi crashing into the wall at high speed, landing on one hand and arcing into a spin as his feet hit the ground. He pulled himself into a flying shot as Kairi pulled herself out of the wall, hand flying towards her neck; when she evaded, it didn't take a lot of improvisation to slam her into the wall again with his legs against her stomach.

The vampire kicked off the wall and landed with a skid before launching himself forward.

He found his way blocked by a blur with silver hair.

Riku's glare was locked. "Stop."

The clawslinger growled. "Stand aside, werewolf."

"No."

"You plan on stopping me?"

"I won't let you kill her."

"She's _already dead._"

Riku's eyes widened.

"And if you don't move in the next two seconds, so are you."

The werewolf spun to see Kairi's knifehand blow flying towards him. He dove out of the way, but the strike caught him in the shoulder, and he gave a howl of pain as she hurled him into a wall. The clawslinger lashed out with a backflip kick, but the ghoul that Kairi had become only leapt away, kicking off the wall and flying back towards him.

Roxas bit his lip forcefully. **Naminé!**

The witch turned to her. "Roxas?"

**I need voltage,** the yoko stated. **Lightning that would make _Ramuh_ cry**. **_Shi-oh_,** he added, turning to the snow fairy, **I hope you're not spent, we need ice.**

"What do you have in mind?" she asked.

**Sora's not going to last forever,** Roxas stated.** We need to trap Kairi. The only way we're going to do that is if we can overload her defenses. Naminé, you got the lightning. Light the ghoul up.**

"You think it'll work?" Naminé prompted. "I've only had fifteen hours."

**We can't wait any longer. Can you land a shock?**

The witch gulped heavily. "I'll try."

**_Shi-oh_,** he added, turning to the snowgirl,** once she's stunned, I want you to surround her with ice. I need it close - _trapped in place_ close.** He flipped her light Key in his left hand and grabbed it by the teeth, handing it to her. **Make it count.**

Xion winced. "I don't have enough energy to-"

Roxas set his right hand on her shoulder, and the flames around him turned a shocking, icy blue as his arm was wrapped in a whirlwind of flame. Xion gave a gasp of shock as a fiery light surrounded her; then it faded, and Xion accepted the key as Roxas pulled his hand away.

Naminé pouted. "Do I get one?"

The yoko rolled his eyes towards her... then a sigh passed through his lips, and he flipped his dark Key in his right hand and grabbed it by the teeth, handing it to her. **Make it work.**

A smile rose on the witch's face as she accepted it; then she stepped forward as Xion did the same.

"Let's do this, hot ice."

"Better keep up, sketches."

The vampire was currently locked blow-against-blow with Kairi, who had a knee against his left arm and a knifehand blow in his right. The moment Sora managed to force her back, however, he found two black-and-white figures passing the edges of his vision. Twin strikes landed across Kairi's sides, causing her to fly back; the ghoul hit the ground rolling and spun to face Xion and Naminé, who had just touched off the wall and were currently facing away.

Xion spun to face her, bracing her light Key before her face and lashing it down.

Naminé spun likewise, raising _Roxas'_ dark Key skyward and bracing it to meet Xion's.

The two whirled the Keys between them, yielding sparks all to hell, before bracing them ready for battle.

+x+x+x+

"This aura... that twisted power..."

The bus driver was standing at the edge of the school's forest, not far from the earth that Roxas had scarred not long before. At his side was a figure in an unmarked brown robe, his face hidden in shadows. The words of the robed one caused the driver to nod his head.

"Indeed. The poor child has pushed herself too far."

"She tried to protect her friends without a care for herself... What was she thinking. Now she has descended into ghouldom, and nothing can save her. Death is her only option."

"And the blackheart seems to understand it as well. He has already unsheathed an impressive strength..."

A subdued chuckle passed through his lips as the robe at his side stepped forward.

"We'd best be going before things get too haous."

+x+x+x+

Kairi caught the blows of the twin Keys with crossed arms, but Xion and Naminé only pulled away, lashing out with parallel spins that sent her flying into the wall. Naminé shot forward first, daggering Roxas' dark Key into a sharp blow on her shoulder; even when Kairi caught it, it was perfect opportunity for Xion to rush forward, tearing a cut across her back.

The two kicked off the wall and dragged Kairi back into the center of the flower bed; Xion released first, rolling across the ground as Naminé landed with a skid, Kairi trapped between them. The two raised their Keys skyward before launching forward, lashing out with parallel combos of two, three, five, seven blows before Kairi retaliated. They leapt skyward, trading places before continuing - eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, then as the ghoul tried to strike they shot into the air, crossing their Keys before them.

The twins traded gazes and nodded; and Xion locked her right hand around the dark Key as Naminé pushed herself away.

Kairi went for Naminé as she hit the ground, but Xion stopped her, catching the attack against the Keys in her hands. The witch leapt away and found herself running into Riku as the werewolf tried to rush into the fight, stopping him with a kick to the leg.

She tore off the right sleeve of her hoodie, revealing a surprise to half of the monsters present; a chain of haous white gold, bound around her forearm, which was still a bright, blazing red. As Riku watched, however, a cold sea-blue magic began to flow across that chain, starting with the single link that reached her wrist and filling each consecutive circle until Naminé's arm seemed to be bound with waves. As the loop completed, sparks began to fill Naminé's palm, and the witch winced as the sparks became a charge, and the charge became _lightning -_ a sphere of lightning that would make Slasher cry.

Xion was struggling to maintain her hold against Kairi - the ghoul's power was far beyond what Xion had experienced, and she wasn't used to handling two Keys at once. "Naminé!" she called worriedly. "Any day now, thanks!"

"Just a little longer," Naminé shouted, her voice cracking. The voltage in her hand started to overflow, lines of lightning racing up and down her forearm as she struggled to raise her arm.

Roxas' fist was clenched worriedly. **Come on, come on, come on...**

Riku saw the trouble she was having - but he knew better than to interfere with magic, and he could only watch as Naminé raised the electricity above her head.

A piercing scream tore from Naminé's lips as the voltage flew into the air.

Xion held her own against Kairi for six seconds before leaping out of the way, leaving the Keys behind, and the weapons faded from the air before Chikai as a rain of lightning bolts flew down upon the ghoul.

For a moment, it seemed that the screams that tore from the demon's lips were _Kairi's_ screams. But one by one, everyone realized that those screams were twisted by the ghoul she had become; they were pained cries, but they were _demonic_ pained cries, the screams of a horror, and to heed their desire would be to let a ghoul upon them.

**_Shi-oh_, NOW!**

The snowgirl nodded at Roxas' words. Ice raced across her hands, forming wraps of claws, and she leapt forward, lashing out with whirling spins that launched icefire across the flower bed that Kairi was stunned upon. As she neared the lightning, Xion resisted the urge to shield herself, to divert her attention from the mission at hand; instead, she only grit her teeth and closed her eyes, continuing to blast icefire around her as she shot past Kairi, her claws catching the ghoul's skin and staining the ice with blood at the voltage began to strike her as well. When finally she had crossed the boundary of raining thunder, Xion spun once more before leaping into the air and skidding across the flowers, crossing her arms before her.

Ice was scattered across the roses; and now, that ice extended, frost rising from the flowers like a thousand spears, arcing around and towards Kairi until the ghoul was trapped at icepoint and surrounded by chill like Shiva herself had imprisoned Chikai in an icy hell.

Roxas set his hand on the clawslinger's shoulder. **She's going nowhere - you got something to do, _get moving!_**

He nodded, racing forward as Xion slumped against the wall. He shot forward, grabbing the ice with the palm of one hand, and whatever muscle tissue his garments were bound of provided enough moisture to quick-freeze to the frozen surface as he arced into a spin. The steel soles of his bodysuit connected with the ice, and he tore his hand from the frost as he leapt back, grabbed the ice, pushed himself to the tip of the trap, and propelled himself into the air.

He flipped once, twice, thrice as he reached the peak of his jump, arcing into a spin as he shot down, one leg bent against his chest as the other shot down straight for a spinning drill kick.

The vampire vanished into the ice.

Then the ice _shattered._

The clawslinger was suspended in the air, and _Kairi's fist was against his chest_. Even as the ice was still falling around them, the ghoul lashed out with a split-kick that sent the fibre-wrapped vampire skyward, flying so high that he was halfway to the peak when Kairi's hand closed around his torso, and she hurled him towards the ground. The impact was enough to _uproot half the flower bed_, and as the clawslinger recovered Chikai dropped down, claws daggering for his throat.

They found themselves caught on a dragon wingblade.

Riku felt something in his skeleton crack - maybe one of his vertebrae - as the ghoul that Kairi had become impacted with Soul Eater in his right hand, with his left against the fibre edge of the sword. Somehow, she managed to suspend herself in the air, forcing against his weapon, and Riku went from standing straight against it, to bending his arms and legs for more support, to kneeling against the ground - in a matter of minutes; not from Kairi's weight, but from the sheer _power_ she managed to apply against his weapon.

The werewolf was running out of power.

The vampire was in no condition to assist.

Roxas was about to leap into the fray when something sent Kairi flying.

Riku fell to the ground, out of energy, but he managed to turn along with everyone else from where the attack had come from. Standing in the corner was a figure in a brown robe who was definitely _not there_ before. The garments obscured everything about his body, but his very _being_ was wrapped in a shadowy purple mist as he stepped forward menacingly.

The clawslinger growled menacingly, his legs arcing into a split as he spun and shot off the ground, landing with his gaze on the newcomer.

"Who the hell are you?"

Kairi's screeching cry caused Riku to struggle to his feet, bracing Soul Eater next to his eyes.

Xion shot up beside them, ice still across her hands as she braced her light Key in her left.

Roxas landed nearby, dark Key in his his right as his tails raised behind him.

Naminé managed to get to her feet, and the chain around her arm glowed blue again as she raised it, unsure whether to aim at Kairi or the newcomer.

There was a single moment of silence.

Then Kairi pounced, and the figure in the robe vanished, reappearing before her with his hand out.

As the ghoul neared him, a cross-flare of white energy coursed from the robed one's hand, suspending her in midair. Screams tore from Kairi's lips, and everyone spun to see her thrashing against nothing, trapped off the ground.

Naminé's eyes widened. "Look...!"

The marks across Kairi's neck, the bloodied patterns across her arms, all of them began to fade, and slowly, Kairi's thrashing faded as her body fell limp.

The figure in the robe lashed his other hand towards Kairi - and dark mist began to wrap around her, taking form piece by piece, as a sound like slamming steel echoed, until Kairi was bound in necrous white chains.

And each link was marked with a cross.

* * *

Draco: No, that doesn't make up for the shortness of my previous chapter. I'm sorry. And no, this doesn't stop the cliffhangers yet, I'm _sorry._ And finally, I'm sorry to Akihisa Ikeda, I'm going to stop ripping off your storyline as soon as I get the chance.

I believe I somehow managed to put a _biblical passage_ in there and now I_ hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate **HATE**_ myself for it. Don't even get me _started_. However, the line is the only epic delivery of the clawslinger's real name that I could _possibly_ pull off and, though I should hope you'd all figured it out beforehand, now even a slight mention is present.

Yes, I ripped that right off of Kefka. Sue me.


	25. Holy Darkness

Draco: THAT TITLE. NOBODY HERE KNOWS WHAT THAT TITLE MEANS. I HAVE TO EXPLAIN IT. DAMN.

Anyways, that title is a reference to my deviantART work. 'Holy darkness' and 'demon light' are what seperates the good necrans (Riku, Terra) from the bad necrans (Ansem, Xehanort) and the bad haeans (DiZ) from the good haeans (Kairi, Ven). I'm still working on the specifics, but how it basically works is that the white shadows of holy darkness are as close to light as shadow can get. Likewise, the black haea of demon light is as close to shadow as light can get. Roxas tends to use them both when he's not ripping off Ventus' wingblades. Yes, he rips off Ventus' wingblades a couple times.

_**BUUUUT**_there is almost no holy darkness by that definition featured as of yet. That's just a fancy title. I'm only saying that now so that (A) I'm not asked questions about the title and (B) I'm not asked questions about the terms when I start using them.**  
**

THERE. LENGTHY AUTHOR'S COMMENT. JUSTIFIED. That's actually more explanation than I've ever given on deviantART.

Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 25: Holy Darkness**

Sora opened his eyes.

He was in an area he did not recognize. Slowly, his gaze shifted from left to right without moving his head. He was in a small room with medical supplies surrounding him. It was also very stark white - the kind of room that would make a ninja freak out. He tried to move and felt like he was lifting a brick. With his pinky.

"Ugh... where am I...?"

As he managed to get to a sitting position, he realized this must be the Yokai infirmary. He raised a hand to his face. Why did it feel like muscles. Who took his skin off. He glanced at himself and found himself shouting.

"_And what the **hell** am I **wearing?**_"

Sora was wrapped in a bodysuit of what he could have _sworn_ was muscle tissue - necrous black that faded to bloodred over the hands, and a bloodred pattern scarred over the torso. Three belts wove around his waist, holding a split kilt of some shadowy black fibre. His feet were covered in brown leather, with steel soles at least an inch thick. The choker was still locked around his neck, the rosario crown dangling from it, but that didn't change the fact that there _didn't seem to be a seam._

"So_raaa!_"

The keyslinger spun in time for Xion to slam into him with a flying hug. There was a moment of recovery before Sora returned the hug with a tight squeeze, prompting Xion to pull away. "You're awake!" she exclaimed. "When you put your crown back on the chain you passed out like Fenrir ran into the Monster Tree! I thought the clawslinger had sucked you out of there!"

"Passed out?" Sora murmured. "What the hell _happened_? I remember Kairi took off the rosario when Larxene split into two, but... Van's memories are all a blur. I just remember... flowers." He winced.

Xion narrowed her gaze. "What's wrong?"

"I can't feel my ass."

The snowgirl laughed as Sora squirmed in his suit. "I don't think there's any seams on this thing. Where the hell did this come from? It feels like something a demon would dress up in for Halloween. I think this is _muscle tissue_. You get a bondage fantasy or something?"

There was a crash. Sora looked in five different directions before he realized Xion had run into the headboard end of an empty bed and knocked over an I.V. stand. Her face was so fiery red she probably would have melted if she wasn't part yoko.

"Don't. Ever. Say. That. Again." Xion's breath was heavy. "Oh, Shiva, I don't even _know._"

Sora nodded. "Understood," he insisted. A heavy sigh passed through his lips. "Tell me what happened."

+x+x+x+

"_WHAT?!_"

Sora was starting to wish he had opted to be the guy who knew nothing. "Kairi... Kairi's a _ghoul!?_"

Xion nodded. "It was just... horrific," she murmured. "Kairi was all wrapped in bloody marks - across her arms and up her neck and face. And you looked like something borne of Pandaemonium. All black-hair and gold eyes and... I think your ears were sharpened to points."

The Keyslinger reached for his ears, making sure they _weren't_ sharpened to points. "So this... getup was his idea then?"

"Yeah," Xion replied.

There was quiet for a long while. "Where's Kairi?"

"She is with me."

Xion and Sora both spun to see a figure in a brown robe standing in the corner of the room. The shadows were still cast over his face, as though there was nothing within the fabric but an empty void.

Sora got to his feet, his Keyblade flaring into his hand. "Who... who are you?"

The snowgirl set a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Sora," she murmured, not taking her eyes off the robed figure. "This is the creep who turned Kairi back to normal."

"If you wish to see her, come with me. There is something you must know."

+x+x+x+

The man in the robe led Sora and Xion through the infirmary halls without a word. Most of the lights were out, which left a kind of 'haunted medical' effect, and Sora's new clothes didn't help matters.

"Where's Roxas and Naminé?" he asked. "And Riku?"

"Recovering," Xion replied. "_Rokusasu_'s condition isn't too serious, but going into his ultimate battle form always drains him. He's going to take a while to recover. Naminé's in a sort of mild, constant pain - she said using magic through her chain too early caused a bit of arcane damage. Riku's mostly in shock - seeing Kairi attack him like that was horrifying." She was quiet a moment. "I'm sorry, this probably doesn't mean _anything_ to you."

Sora shook his head. "No, no... I think I know what you're talking about." As Xion spoke, the haze over his memories started to clear. "That wrap around Naminé's arm... the chain... was that-?"

"Hers and _Rokusasu_'s secret project," Xion confirmed, a smile on her face. "She needed a new spell channel - using her sketchbook takes too long and leaves her too vulnerable. That hoodie she was wearing? She needed twenty-four hours for it to heal and didn't want us to find out about it. Using it too early kind of... she called it 'magic poisoning', but I think it's more like a twisted kind of acupuncture."

"And Roxas looking like something out of a Bishonen manga," Sora prompted. "How long have you guys been hiding _that_ from us?"

Xion rolled her eyes. "You think he can just do that whenever he want's? _Rokusasu_'s not some kind of uniformed pretty-boy. Using his ultimate battle form takes a lot of energy and always leaves him drained. He's not going to be able to even use his foxfire form for another six days."

"We are here."

The robe's words caused the conversation to come to a stop. They were standing at a door that read _Authorized Personnel only_. The robed figure raised his hand towards the door, causing it to creak open without so much as a touch. Slowly, Sora and Xion followed him inside.

Kairi was there - but she was bound in chains that seemed to shine with a necrous white energy. Her body was suspended above the ground, just away from the wall, and her eyes were closed limply, like she was trapped in stasis. As Sora got closer, he realized that the links of the chain were solid - each was marked with a cross over its length.

He narrowed his gaze. "What are...?"

"Holy chains. These bonds are the only thing stopping her from succumbing to ghouldom."

Xion narrowed her gaze. "Something's not right," she muttered, stepping towards them. "Can't you just... I don't know, _lock_ the seal? It shouldn't be imprisonment like this. This _should_ be a solid containment."

"This seal is fragile at best. To reduce the number of chains binding the demon within would compromise the binding arcana. We have no other choice but to keep her like this."

Sora gave a weak sigh. _Kairi... what have I done to you._

"In addition, there is quite a more... sensitive matter to discuss."

Both students turned at their escort's observation. "What kind of 'sensitive matter'?" Sora prompted. "If it's about Marluxia, I can swear on my life that it was self defense. And don't even _try_ and tell me that Kairi's behind in class, I _know_ that's Minotaur dung."

The robe shook his head.

"I have found sources that claim this girl... is human."

Sora and Xion both pulled back in shock and exchanged horrified glances.

Xion recovered first. "Oh, come on," she mused. "I thought this place was guarded. You don't mean to tell me that cloak who drives the bus let a human in here, do you? He doesn't look like the traitorous type."

"She appears to have arrived by freak accident. Her parents appear to have received information on this school through an anonymous source. We have reasons to believe that she was sent to find something here."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Are you implying there is something to find here?" he questioned. "Doubt the students are going to like the sound of this."

"This is a school for monsters. Clearly she believed we were going to be hiding that fact from the students until graduation."

The Keyslinger blew at his hair. "Some information," he prompted. "What kind of source that wanted her to 'find something' would have said that? Leon said it on day one - Welcome to a school for monsters."

He and Xion both knew full well that they were dancing on harp strings. This man in the robe could clearly know enough to pick up a lie. The best they could hope for was to _deter_ this robe's appearance that there was anything _not Yokai_ about Kairi. They had done so well to cover it up - how had he figured it out?

Unless...

"Who was trying to twist you around?" Xion asked. "These 'sources' of yours. Who tried to tell you Kairi's human?"

"That is none of your concern. Any human who finds these grounds must be put to death."

Sora stood up. "Kairi _is __**not**__ human_," he snapped. "There is no reason to harm her, let alone kill her. This..." He searched around for the right word before settling for "_imprisonment_ with these holy chains can be excused on grounds of necessity, but an _attempt on her life_ is inexcusable."_  
_

Xion was shocked at how easily the words left Sora's lips. The clawslinger's bodysuit didn't help matters. The robe seemed likewise shocked.

"If all you have is a rattle of words, from some mystery source that you don't have the balls to tell us the name of, then there are _zero_ grounds for Kairi's execution. You would be foolish to think otherwise." The Keyslinger stood straight. "If that's all, then we will take our leave. I _will_ be coming back. If Kairi is unharmed when I return, I will react accordingly. If Kairi is so much as _scratched_, I will react accordingly."

With a flare of light, his silver Keyblade was in his hand, the silver and gold contrasting brilliantly against the jet-black and bloodred muscle tissue that wrapped his body.

"And if Kairi is missing, _I **will** react accordingly._"

His sea-blue eyes flickered bloodred for but an instant.

Then his weapon vanished, and he pushed past the robe with a rough shouldering, Xion following him.

"How did you do that?" Xion whispered once she was certain they were out of earshot. "How did you Kairi wasn't human so... easily?"

Sora turned to face her, his gaze solemn.

"Because she isn't. Not anymore."

+x+x+x+

"How's Kairi?"

Xion had found Roxas still in his room of the infirmary. Nervously, she sat down on the edge of his bed. "They've kept her in an empty room marked 'Authorized Personnel only'. It looks like it's magically sealed. Kairi's still out, though."

Roxas nodded. "And the chain?"

The snowgirl winced. "They've bound her like a prisoner. She's not conscious. She's not even _touching the ground._ And there's no lock on the seal."

An angry scoff passed through Roxas' lips. "Damnation."

"Also," Xion added, "there's another... more serious problem." She glanced around. "Someone told them that Kairi's human. Sora managed to deter him for now, but I don't know how long we can keep it up."

Roxas' eyes widened. "What...? Who?"

"He wouldn't say. She's in trouble, Roxas. If we leave Kairi here, I don't know how long things are going to last."

The yoko fell silent for a moment. "Slasher Kishi," he muttered.

Xion turned to him. "You think...?"

"He's the only one at this school who still believes Kairi's not a vampire," Roxas muttered. "Find Slasher and get him to tell you what he knows. If it's not him, we're in serious trouble - let Sora know what's going on, then come back here."

"You got it."

+x+x+x+

Slasher was a fighter, but Zexion often got the up on him - what with the spellbook and the dragon wingblade where his arm should be. Still, even _Slasher_ had to admit he found himself very impressed when Zexion managed to force him against the wall, with five dragon wingblades where arms should be raised to his neck.

The sage was trying to struggle against him when the door flew open. Focused on the battle as he was - and kind of struggling to breath with that much _sharp_ around him - he hadn't noticed anyone coming, so Zexion only pulled the blades away and let him fall to the ground as all six images turned to see Xion standing there, hands wrapped in claws.

"Here for a rematch, are you?" Zexion mused. A sigh passed through his lips. "I'm sorry, but I don't have tim-"

Xion crossed her arms before her and bowed her head. A _deadly_ frosted force ripped up around her, causing Slasher to yelp and wrap himself in his robe; when things were still, he poked his head out to see every image of Zexion wrapped in ice. Xion forced five of them out the door and forcibly pulled the ice off the face of the sixth, drawing a yelp of pain.

"I don't have time to bother with you," she snapped. "Where is Slasher Kishi?"

Slasher knew nothing would come of trying to hide, so he grabbed his staff from the ground and used it to support himself as he called, "Slasher Kishi is in here."

The ice rewrapped around Zexion's head as Xion booted him out the door with the other five. The door flew closed as Xion grabbed him mid-recovery, lifting him off the ground.

"Some creep in a brown robe with access to enough holy energy to force back the demon within a ghoul knows that Kairi is human. Talk."

Slasher's eyes were wide. "I can't even cast your basic Pearl! Who at this school can channel _that much _holy power?"

"Some creep in a brown robe who knows that Kairi is human. Did. You. Tell. Him."

"Absolutely not!" he shouted.

Xion glared. "The Jenova brothers and Larxene believe that Kairi is a vampire after the show in the dungeon. Who else could have told them?"

"Chikai is the first _real_, _fair_ challenge I've had since I _learned how to fight!_" Slasher protested. "The last time I tried to set up a fight through someone else Kadaj Jenova ripped me off the battle! If I told anyone in this school that a human was on grounds they would _kill her_ **without hesitation.** I swear on my _life_, I had nothing to do with this!"

The snowgirl was quiet for a long moment; then she let Slasher fall. The sage dusted off his robes and raised his gaze to Xion as she started out.

"Is there some way I can help?"

Xion came to an abrupt stop and whirled around. "Wait, you're offering to _help_?"

"I'd prefer to _not_ fight a Kyonshi, thanks," Slasher insisted. "Where's Kairi now? Did you manage to change Mr. Robe Guy's mind?"

"Maybe for a while," Xion admitted. "Sora looking like a demon on Samhain helped. I doubt he's going to be fooled for long, though."

Slasher tapped his staff against the ground in thought. "I have some friends in the human world who might be able to help," he prompted. "They should be able to arrange a trip to Yokai Academy. Should I bring them in?"

Kairi nodded. "Tell them to arrive and lay _low_. We might need to move Kairi at a moment's notice. Things are going to be delicate - I hope you know what you're doing."

"Deilcate?" Slasher asked. "How...?"

"You think that ghoul was just some rumor going around?"

Slasher's eyes widened, and he only watched as Xion pulled the door open and forced her way through the frozen Zexion images; then he pulled himself together and reached into his pocket, drawing out a cell phone.

+x+x+x+

As Xion neared Sora's room in the freshman dorms, she heard was sounded like an angry growl. It only got louder as she neared the room, and when the grabbed the doorknob, she found the door unlocked.

In a hurry, she pulled the door open.

Sora was tearing at the clawslinger's bodysuit. His left arm was trying to pull it off around his right shoulder. His right arm was grabbing as the muscle tissue around his left ribs. He was also dangling upside down, his feet having been caught and tangled in what appeared to be a series of black chains across the roof of his dorm room.

The Keyslinger came to an abrupt stop, as though he had just realized the door had been opened. His thrashing had provided some momentum; slowly, his body was turned towards the door, causing him and Xion to catch sight of each other's faces. Xion looked like she had been worried; Sora's face was lit up in embarrassment.

"Um... hi," he prompted, letting his hands fall - which, due to his position, meant he looked like he was surrendering.

"Hi," Xion murmured. "Um...?"

"Van apparently has a thing for Marvel wardrobes," Sora stated. "This thing is tight and one-piece and I still can't feel my ass." He grabbed at the collar of the suit and pulled, only to end up turning again. "How did he even get this thing on?"

Xion thought back to the previous day's battle. "He wrapped himself in a sphere of darkness. When he came out, he was wearing... that. I don't even _know_." She sighed. "Want some help with that thing?"

Sora nodded as he turned back to face her again. "Yeah, actually, that would be appreciated." As Xion stepped forward, he raised a hand before him. "Wait, you're not gonna pull an MJ kiss on me, are you?"

A nervous laugh passed through Xion's lips. "Nah," she insisted, then joked, "with my luck you'd end up falling out of the chains and I'd be kissing your shoes."

The Keyslinger looked up to his feet. "Nope," he mused, "those are most decidedly _not_ going anywhere." He raised - or rather, lowered - his gaze to Xion and hooked his hands behind his head. "Go on, try me."

"Wait, seriously?" Xion was incredulous.

Sora could tell he was making the snow fairy uncomfortable. "You know what, never mind," he assured her. "Just help me get out of this thing. I'm gonna need a sharp edge."

Ice wrapped itself around Xion's hands to form claws as she stepped forward. "Are you sure you don't want to save that?" she prompted, turning Sora around. "It looks kind of badass."

"In which case _I_ most certainly am _not_ badass," he insisted. "Just cut me out of this thing, alright? It's not too thick, so don't dig too deep or- _ah!_" He gave a grunt as Xion's claw lightly pierced the skin of his back.

"Sorry!" Xion insisted, pulling her claws away and letting them evaporate. The wound on Sora's back quick-froze as she reached towards it, carefully slipping her fingers into the cut she had left in the bodysuit before forming her claws again; this time, it was a more delicate edge, dividing into two smooth supports that slid across Sora's back as she ran the blade down his spin and then up his neck until it slipped out the collar, leaving a clean cut down the back.

Sora shivered as the edge crossed his neck and Xion pulled it away. "That's... really cold," he murmured.

Xion nodded. "There's a cut across the back, so you should be able to take it off and still keep it intact in case the clawslinger wants it again." She watched as Sora pulled himself up and started to untangle his feet from the chains. "Where did those come from?" she asked.

"I think Van set them up during that study session," he replied. "With the candles and the creepy black velvet over my books? Probably just a little something to mess with the lighting. I thought I could use them to pry the suit off, but I just ended up getting my feet st-_woah!_"

His feet came untangled very suddenly, causing him to fall in a two-seventy degree flip and knock Xion to the floor. When he opened his eyes, he found his nose several inches from Xion's and his eyes reflected in hers.

"Woah!"

The two of them pulled away suddenly. Sora ran into the floor. Xion ran into the wall.

Sora gave an irritable growl as he got to his feet. "Sorry about that," he murmured, his face red. He reached for his back and managed to grab the seam Xion had opened in the back of his suit. "Thanks for the help."

"No problem," Xion insisted, her face just as red. Her blush deepened when Sora pulled the suit apart and ended up struggling with the sleeves - the clawslinger seemed to have restructured the Keyslinger's clothes to form that suit, because Sora was most decidedly _not_ wearing a shirt under that thing - and Xion found her gaze locked onto his _ripped_ six-pack as he managed to slowly fight his arms out of the sleeves._  
_

Sora noticed her staring and gave a smart grin. "Like what you see?" he prompted.

"What?" Xion realized she had been staring at him, and somehow her face managed to light up _more_. Sora had seen _flames_ not that red.

He tried to step forward and found the suit snapping back into place, unrolling along his arms. "Okay, this thing does _not_ want to come off," he muttered. "I'm sorry, Xion, but I'm going to need a little more help than a quick cut along the back. Keeping this thing intact is _not_ going to work."

"Why don't you just wear that thing around normally?" Xion asked. "You know, like, under your usual clothes?"

"I think it has something to do with the fact that this is _muscle tissue,_" Sora reminded her. "I feel like a mass murderer. Or something borne of Pandaemonium. Some kind of horrific demon."

A monstrous silence descended on them as the implications of that observation sunk in.

Sora sighed, slumping onto the bed. "I am a horrible person," he murmured. "I deserve to wear this."

Xion stepped towards him. "You are _not_ a horrible person_,_" Xion insisted. "Look, just hold still, I'll trim that off and-"

"Look, that's not important," Sora prompted. "How did the talk with Roxas go?"

"He had me go interrogate Slasher," Xion replied. "He figured that the little warrior was the only one who could have told that creep in the brown robe about Kairi - but Slasher swore on his life that it wasn't him. He actually offered us backup in case we needed to get Kairi out of here."

"Why on earth would he do that?" Sora asked.

"He likes the way Kairi fights," Xion told him. "A real, fair challenge, he called her."

Sora sighed. "What now?"

Xion turned away. "I'm gonna go talk to _Rokusasu_ again," she replied. "You want to come with?"

"Might as well," Sora replied. He stepped towards his closet. "If you've got a seam along there, I'm going to want to put on something over this after all."

The snow fairy stopped him. "It's not there," she murmured.

"What?" The Keyslinger turned to her. "What do you mean?"

"The seam," Xion replied. "It's not there. It's like the fibres... _healed_ themselves."

Sora scrambled at his back. The seam was missing - not a trace it had been there. "Okay, this suit is now _decidedly_ creeping me out," he muttered. "Van's gonna answer about this. Come on, let's go. We need to talk to Roxas so Slasher's reinforcements know what they're doing when they get here. _Bahamut,_ that sounds weird coming out of my mouth."

+x+x+x+

Xion led Sora back to the infirmary. They made their way to the room Kairi was in and found her inside and unharmed. The weird robe wasn't there, but that was a good thing. They then went to Roxas' room.

The yoko seemed surprised to see Sora - or rather, Sora's clothes. "What's with the clawslinger's getup?" he asked.

Sora growled. "I can't get it off. I'll have to get it trimmed off. Look, not the point."

Xion stepped forward. "It wasn't Slasher," she insisted. "He actually offered to help us. He's bringing in backup. He wants Kairi alive for a fair fight," she added at Roxas' expression.

Roxas sighed. "Alright. We're in trouble. Someone at this school knows Kairi is human not counting Slasher. We don't have time to figure out who spilled the beans on us. Kairi's binds are too fragile without a proper lock on the seal, so we can't count on her to defend her status."

Sora ran his fingers over the sleeve of his suit. "I've got a bike," he stated. "I can get through the tunnel's magic - if we need to, I can take Kairi and go."

"Not on your own, you can't," Roxas insisted. "How many can it take?"

"_Maybe_ three max?" Sora prompted. "I can take Riku or Naminé with me if I have to."

Roxas rapped his fingers against his bed. "We'll talk about that when we need to," he insisted. "Be ready to leave at a moment's notice, though. Sora, check on Riku, check on Naminé... and do _something_ about that outfit, you look like you got wrapped up in a symbiote."

"I'm gonna go check on the others," Sora muttered, stepping out of the room.

The yoko stopped Xion from doing the same. "_Shi-oh_," he prompted, "I want you to do me a favour," he insisted. "If I can't recover in time to get on that freak of a motorcycle, I want you to go with Sora, alright?"

Xion was surprised. "What? I thought-"

"I don't want Sora taking off without someone who knows how to deal with holy chains," Roxas insisted. "The only options we have are me and you. If I'm stuck on this bed, I want you to go with him. Promise me."

The snowgirl gave a heavy sigh. "Right. I'll go with him."

Roxas stopped her from leaving.

"Promise?"

Xion caught his gaze, the icy aquamarine in her eyes locking against the ocean sapphire in his.

"Promise."

Then she turned away, taking off, and Roxas sighed weakly, lying his head against the pillow and closing his eyes.

+x+x+x+

Slasher tapped his foot against the ground, arms crossed irritably as he waited for the bus to arrive. He had changed out of his sage garments, opting for his white-within-black freelancer outfit. He had a wooden katana on his back, as well as a chakram dangling from his belt and two small knives at his waist. He still had bandages on his right arm, but the wrap wasn't so critical this time.

The sound of an incoming vehicle caused him to raise his gaze to see the Yokai bus coming in. Three familiar figures were inside, and as Slasher watched they got out of their seats and stepped out. One of them was a figure in jet-black clothes with smooth jet-black hair and ebony eyes. His jet-black stare caught Slasher's attention immediately. The second was a figure in a blue jacket with a red scarf, with spiky red hair. The third was a girl in a white gi with a black belt wrapped around her waist, a headband holding down her pale blond hair. As they set their bags on the ground, the bus driver pulled a U-turn and took off again.

Slasher sighed. "Subtle, Tatakai."

"Hey, Kishi, this is my formal wear," the gi girl protested. "You thought I was gonna come clad in battle wear to a new trip?"

The guy in the jacket turned to him. "It's the same wear!"

"How many times I gotta tell you, Koibito. I'm a _karateka_. Formal wear is _white_. Battle wear is _black_."

The dude in black snapped to battle position. "Heads up. We've got very dark company."

Everyone took their offensive stances, digging into their bags, but Slasher only glanced over his shoulder and sighed, raising a hand to stop his allies from rushing to arms. "Don't freak, guys," he insisted, "it's just Kingdom." On second glance, he added, "Although I am going to have to ask where you got that."

Sora, who had still yet to change out of the clawslinger's muscle tissue, was just back from checking up on Riku and Naminé. He growled irritably as he stepped up to Slasher's gang. "So, this your backup, then?" he asked. "Nice team. When did parties of four get so common?"

Slasher sighed. "Introductions," he insisted. "Let's start with our martial artist."

The girl stepped up and held out a hand. "I'm Keru Tatakai," she introduced. Sora accepted the hand and resisted the urge to wince as she caught it in a death grip. "Don't get on my bad side."

"Understood."

"This," Slasher added, beckoning to the guy in the jacket, "is Shijin Koibito, our little musical murderer."

"I've heard all the jokes already," Shijin insisted before Sora could speak, "so don't even _start_."

Sora raised an eyebrow.

"Finally," Slasher prompted, "we have Hito Taberu. Expect Kurai to scream."

Hito turned to him. "Kurai's here?"

"Not important," Sora insisted, making a mental note to ask Riku about it later. "Look, I'm glad you guys are here so early. You're going to need to set up positions. I want specialties and ranges. What can you do, how close do you need to be."

Everyone was rather surpised at how fast Sora had said that. Keru spoke up first. "I'm a heavy hit," she replied. "I've one-shot'ed huge monstrels I can't even _begin_ to describe. But I need to get in close to do it."

"I'm not a fighter," Shijin answered. "I can give these guys a power boost and I'm a good distraction, but you can't trust me to do any proper fighting. I'm a bit of a healer, but not mid-battle - my restoration takes time."

"I can do range," Hito stated, "but not for long. If I'm going to fight, I gotta move in after one or two hits. Four _tops_."

Slasher sighed. "I can't change on the fly," he admitted. "If you're going to have me fight, you gotta tell me up front if you want blades or arcana."

Sora thought a moment. "Blades," he said finally. "Alright, guys, you're gonna have to lay low and stake out until we need to move. There's a whackton of gravestone setups littered around the school and dorms, so finding low cover shouldn't be a problem. The forest is a hell of a maze and not that far from the main area. We've got the school building - it's got a fenced-off open roof to hide out there, and there's some inter-floor passages to hide in if you have to."

"I'll take the roof," Hito prompted. "Is it open to students?"

"Normally, yes," Sora admitted, "but I can do something about that if I have to."

Keru thought for a moment. "Show me these gravestones," she prompted. "I'm thinking an underground hiding area."

"Forest," Shijin insisted. "Called it."

No one argued.

Slasher sighed. "Then inside the school is mine," he sighed. "I've got classes to attend, so I guess that's for the best."

Sora nodded. "Alright. Shijin, easiest stakeout at the forest is by the sophomore dorms down _that_ way." He pointed straight at the dorms in question. "Slasher, show Hito to the school roof and I'll pop by with a lock. Keru, come with me. Best choice of gravestones is by the freshman dorms."

Before he could turn away, Slasher called to him. "Kingdom, you're gonna need this."

The Keyslinger turned in time to snatch a small figure out of the air - a smartphone, fresh-out-of-the-box new. "What's this for?" he asked, raising his gaze.

Shijin sighed irritably. "I needed to grab one and all they had were Rugbys," he replied.

"You need a way to contact us," Hito pointed out. "All our numbers are plugged in there already. If you've got a situation you need us to check out, send someone a text with 'R'. That's all you need. When you need us to move out, just shoot us all 'A' and we'll know what to do."

Keru scrambled through her pockets and drew out two smartphones - one of the same model as in Sora's hand, one with the Apple logo inscribed on the back. "Here," she prompted, tossing him the second Rugby, "if you've got someone watching the sensitives, give them that one and relay the instructions."

Sora glanced at it for a while before raising his gaze and nodding. "Thanks. Alright, grab your bags and let's get all of you into position."

+x+x+x+

"Roxas."

The yoko looked up to see Sora at the door again. He had a pair of identical smartphones in his hand, and as the Keyslinger stepped forward he seemed to be looking through the info. "Where'd you get the phones?" Roxas asked, hiding his right arm under the sheets.

"Slasher's backup arrived and they decided to throw us a bit of tech," Sora replied. "Here, this one's yours. Familiarize yourself with it. Shijin Koibito is in the forest. Keru Tatakai's around the freshman dorms, and Hito Taberu took the roof. Slasher's in his ninja getup; he's going to be in the school at all times. I'm under 'Yokai client'. They want one-letter texts if they're needed - 'R' if we need them to check something out, to whoever is closest, 'A' when they need to get moving, to everyone."

He handed Roxas the spare Rugby. The yoko glanced at it before turning back to Sora. "How's Kairi?"

"On my way to check up on her now," Sora replied. "Look, I need you to do me a favour. I'll be here daily at _least_, but I can't be watching her room all the time. I need you to keep an eye out, make sure that freak in the robe isn't up to anything. If he starts acting suspicious or messing with those cross-chains, you go all foxfire on his ass, let me know, and shoot Slasher's gang an A."

"I can't use my foxfire mode," Roxas stated. "I still need to recover."

"Then match up the blaze and blow his top off, kitsune," Sora snapped, "I'm not picky. Just keep Kairi safe or it's on you."

He turned away and took off, leaving Roxas to blow at his hair irritably. As the door closed, he drummed his fingers against his mattress, glancing over the phone.

_How the hell am I going to keep a patrol when I'm in recovery mode?_ he wondered. _If I'm up and about too much, I'll never be able to get any healing done. It's not like I can just be everywhere at once._

The thought brought his mental rambling to a halt.

_...Can I?_

+x+x+x+

Hito woke when the sun did.

Okay, admittedly, it's not exactly easy to tell when the sun wakes at Yokai Academy. The grounds are set at a perpetual still-weather - fall temperatures, permanently overcast. The sun isn't exactly _vibrant and noticeable_. But if you're sleeping under the open sky, you're going to notice the sun rising behind the shrouding weather.

He got to his feet with a rough creak. Not as a figure of speech; Taberu's loose, comfy clothes had been traded out for armour that was not quite formfitting, not quite bulky, and so dark it put shadows to shame - jet-black build, shadowy golden lining. A necrous white horsehair plume flowed from the back of his helmet, and his eyes glared from within the helmet - rings of ebony that were only a shade off of his pupils.

On his back, contrasting brilliantly with the dark of his armour, was a blade of shining white with a waved inner edge and an icy blue grip. Crossed against that was a much more fittingly dark weapon - a long, arced katana with a golden handle and blood streaked across the blade.

As the day started and students began to approach the academy, a triumphant four-note jingle caused him to turn. His bags were piled next to the bedroll he had lain on the roof. Hito sighed, but a brief smile rose on his face as he reached into his bag and drew out his cell phone.

_Message from: Saiai Hono_.

Hito Taberu would _never_ admit it. He didn't have to; everyone else in Slasher's party knew about Hito's girlfriend, Saiai. The two had been friends for_ever_, and no one in their right mind would _dare_ come between them. Keru's comment the previous day about one-shot'ing huge monstrels - that was someone who had tried flirting with Saiai. The team supported their relationship - trying to interfere with it was tantamount to suicide.

Hito opened the message.

_How's my favourite dark knight? ;)_

A light snicker passed through Hito's lips as he pulled the gloves off his armour.

_I thought I was your only dark knight?_

He sighed, glancing over the academy grounds as students made their way to class, careful to let himself not be seen. He and Saiai had actually had a date planned when Slasher had told them about the mission. Top priority, Kishi had said. Taberu was still trying to figure out what the deal was with this mission - did the freelancer owe Kingdom or something?

His phone went off again. Hito heard a student stop her conversation. "Did you hear that?" Hastily, the swordsman switched his phone to vibe mode before checking his message.

_You know what I mean, shadow boy! '-.- Heard you and the team were at Yokai Academy? No goofing off with Tatakai!_

Hito grimaced under his helmet. Keru had power like Ifrit and the temper to back it up. He'd had _nightmares_ about 'goofing off' with her. He answered Saiai:

_Never! x.x How's things on your end?_

_Ugh, those Ground Spider guys from Canaan were trying to flirt with me again. I had to use a couple of your Bomb Arms to shut them up. Sorry! :(_

_No prob. They leaving you alone?_

_For now. Don't know how long tho. You gonna get me sumthin from Preternatural while you're there?_

_Soon as I get the chance, girl. Don't squee on me when I get back._

Hito turned the display off as he dragged his bag over to him. Shifting through his bag, he found his wallet and had just pulled it open when his phone went off again, rattling against the roof. He snatched it up and pried his wallet open with one hand before glancing at the screen as the display switched to the message.

_A_.

The dark knight was confused for a moment until he checked the name.

_Yokai Client II_.

+x+x+x+

"Hey, up there!"

Shijin was perched high in a tree, at the edge of the forest. This gave him a clear vantage point - if he was told to watch out for something, it would be easy for him to see. He had traded out his simple jacket-and-scarf for a little more elaborate garments - a short blue coat, dark leggings, expert leather shoes, and a bright red ornamental cloth dangling from his left shoulder. He also had a collection of harps hanging from one of the branches nearby; a wavy red one with a face inscribed at the tip, a rounded blue one with a small stand below, and a lyre-design of deep purple. In his hands, strings pulled to the music, was yet another harp; a simple gold harp with a triangular design.

The call caused him to stop playing and glance down. Below was a girl who looked very _kunoichi_ - close garments, headband, and a shuriken tattoo on her left arm, with four spheres around it. She had newmoon hair and sneaky-eager dark blue eyes, and she was twirling a small kunai in hand.

"I don't recognize you," she called. "What's your name?"

Shijin raised an eyebrow. "I don't suppose you would," he mused. "I don't recognize you either. Then again, I don't recognize most of the people around here." He turned back to his harp and continued playing.

The ninja girl called to him again. "Hey, I asked for your name!"

A sigh passed through his lips. "Koibito," he prompted, and went back to his music.

Several moments passed before the kunoichi below chuckled as though amused. "You know," she prompted, "when someone asks your name, it's polite to ask for theirs back."

"Funny," Shijin mused, "I really don't give half a damn. In case it's not obvious, I'm in the middle of something here. I don't have time to play around with you."

He reached for the strings again - and that was when a kunai shot between his index and middle fingers, pierced the edge of the string, and impaled itself between two of his harps. He glanced down to see the kunoichi twirling a diamond-studded shuriken on one finger hand. "Is that a challenge?" she prompted. "I don't think you want to get in a fight with me. _I'm_ the Great Ninja Yuffie!"

A single haughty laugh passed through Shijin's lips. "A ninja? You? Please. Just please. You look like a thief trying to get a monk's dogi to stay closed. You've got a sharp eye, but that really doesn't mean a thing if you don't have something to back it up."

Yuffie gave a low growl, drawing out a single smoke pellet that she slammed to the ground.

The instrumentalist rolled his eyes as he started to restring his harp. "Hey, spike brain," he called, "you know smoke is for face-to-face on level-"

He was cut off as a massive fuma shuriken appeared in front of him.

One tip was impaled in the trunk of the tree.

Another was levelled on Shijin's neck.

The next point in that order had Yuffie's hand around it - the kunoichi had her feet _flat against the trunk of the next tree_.

"Listen up, _bard_," she snapped. "Don't cross me. I'm a trained ninja outta _Wutai._ I've hunted and found more treasures than you've got harpstrings. I'm packing enough kunai to make a pincushion out of a slug monster and _this _isn't even my biggest shuriken. If you get on my bad side, I'm going to send you home _in a crystal necklace_. Understood?"

A fast-paced tune emerged as though out of nowhere. Yuffie looked around for more foes, but Shijin - struggling to breathe with the fuma point levelled on his neck - only reached into his pocket and drew out his cell phone. "Understood," he told Yuffie, his voice strained.

Yufiie yanked the shuriken out of the tree and arced into a flip, grinding one of the points against the trunk as she slid down. Shijin gave an exhausted breath and checked his phone.

_New message from: Yokai Client II._

He opened the message.

_A_.

+x+x+x+

Keru was currently outside the freshman dorms.

None of the students had seen her.

That was because she was _underground_ outside the freshman dorms.

Something about enclosed spaces made Keru Tatakai very comfortable. The night she had arrived, she had proceeded to dig an underground cave below one of the gravestone setups near the dorm building Kingdom had pointed out. There was no gap for students to fall through; the karateka had tunnelled from beside the freshman dorms to right under the stones - which, she had discovered, were nothing more than props.

Once her little hideout was of a sufficient size, she had laid out her bedroll and switched into her black gi before preparing her gear - which consisted of, on the surface, an armoured fingerless glove of gold on her left hand, an armoured fingerless glove of crimson on her right hand, and a pair of nunchaku strapped to her left arm.

At the moment, Keru was gaming. Luxury items were a no on missions - fortunately, her phone did not qualify as a luxury item, and she had taken the liberty of purchasing several mobile games to keep her busy. She was in the middle of a level when her phone screamed at her. She gave a yelp, hurling her phone across the cave. Through sheer luck, it connected with her bag instead of a wall, and as Keru grabbed it and shut the ringer up, she found that her latest move had misfired - the antagonists were _laughing_ at her. Well, more like _snorting_.

"Asura damned pigs!" she snapped, shutting the game down and checking the message.

_Message from: Yokai Client II_

_A_

+x+x+x+

Slasher was very idle in class that day.

Not to say he wasn't working - or at least, trying. His mind drifted, however; he just couldn't focus on the assignment at hand. Xion's conversation with him - a ghoul, and the man in the robe who could suppress it with a wave of his hand - kept rising to his mind. Xion herself was absent, so he couldn't ask her about it directly.

And someone knew Chikai was human - aside from her friends and himself.

The Jenova brothers? No, they believed her to be vampyric, as Kingdom was.

Kaminari's group? If the Jenovas thought not, then it was doubtful she did.

One of the teachers? Okay, Professor Heartilly isn't _that_ paranoid._  
_

"Slasher Kishi?"

It was like thinking her name had alerted her to his presence. Slasher raised his gaze to the front desk. Rinoa Heartilly was a kind woman with a kind face - smooth black hair with streaks like caramel, deep brown eyes, and always a soft expression. She wore a very complimentary blue outfit, but Slasher knew better than to get on her bad side. Like Leonheart, Professor Heartilly had a weapon strung up over the board - a small, streamlined blade that looked like a throwing weapon - but unlike Leon, she had yet to draw it in battle... yet.

The teacher approached Slasher as he pulled himself out of his reverie. "Are you alright?" she prompted. "You seem... off, today."

"I-I'm fine," Slasher insisted. "Just... had a busy night, last night. I can work through it."

Rinoa glanced over him, suspicious. "Are you sure? It wouldn't be out of hand to take a break for a while, you realize."

Slasher started to shake his head, but just then he felt a faint vibration from his pocket. He was wearing his ninja garments under his shine-and-shadow freelancer clothes, so it was hard to tell, but he knew his phone was going off. "If you insist," he said to Rinoa. He gathered his books and got to his feet, stepping out of the classroom as she returned to her desk.

The moment he was out of the classroom, Slasher skidded his feet against the wall and raced towards the roof. He had loosened a panel of the ceiling where he had gathered his stuff, and now he pried it open and forced it out of the way as he landed on the inter-floor passage.

He slipped the panel back into place and drew out his cell phone.

_Message from: Yokai Client II_

_A._

Slasher snapped into action immediately. He quickly pulled off his freelancer clothes, revealing the deadly near-black crimson of his ninja garb. He grabbed his blades from the floor nearby, hooking the crimson and the katana to his back. He took only a moment to make sure his chakrams were in the folds dangling from his shoulders before taking off through the passage. It didn't take him long until he passed Kingdom's classroom.

Kingdom was already gone.

+x+x+x+

_Two minutes earlier_

"What's this? You trying to hurt Kairi?"

The man in the brown robe turned away from the door to see Roxas Kaigara standing there, a hand on his chin. His plain black cloak was wavering around him as he stepped forward. "Sorry, I'm going to have to ask you to step away. I'm under strict orders to make sure she's left alone. Sora's going to have my head if she get hurt."

"You are not authorized to be in this area. If memory serves, you _should_ be recovering."

Roxas shook his head. "Yeah, that doesn't work like that," he stated. "I get hurt, yeah, but I heal fast and easy. It's just an energy rest, and that's strictly optional."

"Be that as it may, you are not authorized to be here."

"No," Roxas stated. "See, when you _step away_ from the door, then I can leave."

The man in the robe was quiet for a moment.

Then his left arm flew forward, and a bolt of jet-black darkness flew from it, slamming into Roxas' arm with enough force to _tear it off_.

The yoko gave a shout of pain as the man stepped away - but it was then that the torn arm hit the ground and _shattered_, fragmenting like ice. The pieces ignited, blazing across the floor as Roxas turned to the robe again. He raised what was left of his arm forward, and flames emerged from it like dragon's breath, sending his opponent flying backwards. The fire range wasn't that long; it was _just that powerful_.

The flames arced into form, and a blazing red ice wrapped over it, crafting a whole new arm on Roxas' hand.

"You oughta be careful," Roxas scolded. "You really could have hurt someone."

He turned to the door and snapped his fingers, causing the lock to melt. The door flew open, revealing Kairi there, suspended just off the ground. The holy chains were wrapped around her like a prisoner - and, as Xion had reported, they were completely uninterrupted.

A heavy sigh passed through Roxas' lips.

Carefully, he reached forward and set his hand against Kairi's skin.

The ghoul's eyes flared open, murderous blood-red, and she thrashed wildly as her suspension fell and her feet connected with the ground. It didn't last long, though - before Roxas could even act to defend himself, Kairi's movement faded, and she fell still again. Careful not to touch the chains themselves, Roxas dragged Kairi out the door and started down the hallway.

"Remain still."

The robe had somehow managed to recover and was now standing in Roxas, his garments completely unsinged The yoko rolled his eyes and raised his hand, sending a bolt of flame towards him - the robe was able to deflect it with a pass of his arm.

"Look," Roxas snapped, "I don't have time for this. Get out of my way before I burn that robe and you with it."

"You believe you can?"

Roxas angled his head from side to side. "Right here, right now, probably not. But I really don't need to."

"And why is that?"

The yoko beckoned behind the robed man. "Because there's a swordsman standing right there with armour dark enough to put you to shame.

The robe turned to see the shadowy armour of Hito Taberu standing there. His katana was in his left hand, and Roxas pulled himself and Kairi out of the way as he lashed it down, sending a wave of shining white darkness tearing through the air.

It hit the robe and sent him flying again.

"I've got this, Kaigara," Hito stated. "The rest of the team's ready to fight. Kishi told me that Kingdom's already off to grab the bike."

Roxas nodded. "Got it. Thanks a ton." Kairi thrashed again, and Roxas started dragging her forward once more as Hito drew his wave-edged blade in his right hand and approached the robe.

+x+x+x+

Slasher had met Keru and Shijin just outside the school building. The three of them took off towards the infirmary, where they found Roxas dragging Kairi outside.

"Where's Sora?" Roxas shouted. "I told him to meet me out here!"

"He's on his way," Shijin stated. "We passed him on the way here. He should be- Holy_ Flare_, is that...?"

His gaze was locked on Kairi, who chose that moment to thrash out again.

Roxas nodded, glancing around. "Where's _Shi-oh_? I told her to meet me out-"

He was cut off by a wicked _crack_ from within the infirmary building, and everyone turned to see _cracks race up the building where the doors were divided_. As the cracks faded from view, the doors flew open as Hito skidded to a stop with his blades drawn.

Slasher looked inside and drew his blades in a right hurry. "Sonovabitch."

The robe was stepping forward, not a scar upon him as he approached the party of four. Keru drew her nunchaku and whirled it into her hands as Shijin braced his harp to play, but the robe didn't even waver.

It was then that a whirling blade hit him in the back of the head.

Behind him stood Riku Kurai, his arm down after a throw. As the robe turned to face him, he raised his hand as Soul Eater volted into his hand once again. A moment passed; then Riku rushed forward, lashing out with a whirl of slashes that ended _next to Slasher Kishi_.

When the robe started walking again, he repeated the attack, finishing _further down the hall than he had started._

A revving roar caused everyone to turn to see Sora barrelling forward atop Fenrir, still wrapped in the clawslinger's muscle tissue hell garments, his silver Keyblade in hand. As he neared, he pulled the weapon into a sideways skid, grating his Key against the ground as he neared the group. "Get Kairi on the bike and get on," Sora spat, "we need to go _now!_"

"Don't touch the holy chains," Roxas warned, lifting Kairi onto the bike by the arms. "Any touch will weaken the seal. In her state, we can't affo-"

He was cut off as a blast of jet-black darkness tore through his head and emerged between his eyes, suspending him in place.

A _chain_ of shadow was tied between the impact point on Roxas' skull and the gap of shadow on the robe's arm. With a menacing force, he drew Roxas towards himself, launching blasts of darkness that tore the arms and tail of his cloak into shreds, shattered his arms and legs like ice, each fragment combusting as it hit the ground, until a single solid blow tore what was left into a menacing explosion.

And the robe only _walked_ through the flames, trampling over what was left of the cloak, intent on reaching the vampire.

Sora swore heavily. This robe had just killed a yoko without even _trying_. There was literally nothing but a series of flames left. But he didn't have time to waste; Kairi was on Fenrir. he couldn't waste time picking up Riku or Naminé or he would be putting everyone in danger.

"Sora!"

The Keyslinger turned to see Xion charging towards him, a horrified look in her eyes. Sora revved Fenrir, hesitating only long enough for the snow fairy to clamber on before tearing towards the bus stop with a menacing roar.

The robe swore, stepping forward, and Slasher and his team took combative positions.

They were prepared to go down fighting when the flames across the area started gathering towards the robe.

Everyone stepped back as the fragments of fire started _piecing themselves together_, each flowing into the other as the fallen cloak rose into the air, wrapping itself around what was decidedly becoming a humanoid figure. Slasher exchanged glanced with his allies; then they all took off as the flames _froze over_ with red-hot ice.

Roxas body flooded with colour, and with not on his body but a tattered cloak, he locked his menacing glare on the robe before him.

"You... what are you? Some kind of immortal?"

The yoko laughed. "Okay, yeah, _no_. Asura is an immortal. _Bahamut_ is an immortal. But me? I'm not."_  
_

He raised his hands as flames began to pillar from them.

"Because _mortal_ is enough to deal with you."

Roxas lashed out.

The robe lashed out.

The robe's attack connected first.

* * *

Draco: Whew. Long chapter. How long? _IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAND!_ Seriously, this is the longest one of these I've ever done.

No, I don't text like that.

Yes, I have a Samsung Galaxy Rugby.

No, I don't play Angry Birds.

I think that's everything.


	26. Escape

Draco: WHY DID NO ONE FREAK OUT ABOUT THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER? ROXAS KAIGARA WAS BLOWN UP! I BRACED MYSELF WITH COUNTERARGUMENTS! COME ON, THE ONE TIME I'M _PREPARED_ FOR PEOPLE TO GET PISSED AT ME AND YOU DON'T? Feymarch, what is it that makes you guys so calm about people dying. Jeez. If I have to kill Kairi to get you guys to start giving appropriate responses to stuff like (implied) character death, I _will_. And I'll make Sora do it. I've done it before.

Nah, I jest. I dropped a lot more hints than I should have. I can admit that now {Xehanort face}. I'm not going to tell you where I got the idea from because it's still more or less new and some people haven't seen it yet, but I _am_ going to tell you they did it a lot better than I did. Once it's been out for a while, _then_ I'll start telling you guys where I'm getting references.

Hey, warning! Pseudo-Final-Fantasy-VII plot ahead! Prepare to be confused! I already am.

Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 26: Escape**

"You... What are you? Some kind of immortal?"

The figure of Roxas, crafted from remnant flames, only laughed. He could hear Slasher and his team getting out of range as he began to gather what he could. He didn't have long - if he didn't act fast, the body would die and take his consciousness with it.

"Okay, yeah, _no_," Roxas admitted. "Asura is an immortal. _Bahamut_ is an immortal. But me? I'm not."

What was left of Roxas' body began to combust, flames forming pillars atop his hands.

"Because _mortal_ is enough to deal with you."

He shot forward.

The robe shot forward.

The robe hit first, and a blade of darkness tore through Roxas' body as the flames on his hands faltered.

Roxas glanced down at the cut point. "Well, damn."

He raised his gaze to the robe... and smirked as was wrapped in red-hot ice, _erupting on the spot__._

+x+x+x+

His fist slammed into the mattress as the infirmary shook.

"That could've gone better."

Roxas exhaled deeply, his breath sparking slightly. Naminé was standing next to him, and she set a hand on his arm. "Did you get Kairi out?"

"Yeah," Roxas confirmed, "but that robe kicked my ass. I think I blew up the infirmary front doors."

"How did you do that?" Naminé asked. "Doesn't it hurt for you to produce something like that... solid heat?"

Roxas shook his head. "Nah, it's just a bit of energy. Worst case scenario, I'll have to rest for an extra day before I can use my foxfire again." He turned to the witch. "What about you? How're you handling that... what'd you call it, magic poisoning?"

Naminé sighed, flexing the fingers of her chain arm. "It's getting better," she murmured. "Still a bit painful, but I should be fine."

"That's good," Roxas mused. A sigh passed through his lips. "Hope they make it."

+x+x+x+

Fenrir was halfway to the tunnel when Sora heard someone approaching them.

Impressive, considering it had taken them _all of five seconds to **get** halfway to the tunnel_.

The Yokai bus was storming towards them at a perpendicular, moving at speeds no bus should logically be able to move. Directly where they were going to impact was _the bus driver_, who was standing with one hand aiming at Sora, Kairi, and Xion and the other hand angled towards the bus, a dark, almost _empty_ grin on his face.

Sora didn't have time to wonder who the hell was driving the bus - he had to act _now_.

"Xion! Hold on!"

The Keyslinger drove his weapon into the ground, slammed on the brakes, and twisted the handlebars of Fenrir, causing the blade slots to open. The combination of added surface area and the wheels grinding against the earth provided a lot of drag, and Sora's Keyblade caused the bike to veer into a sideways skid. The bus driver's empty grin vanished - the bus began to skid its own tires against the ground, but it had a lot more mass, and inevitably the massive vehicle neared the driver.

Sora expected a sudden stop, maybe a crumpled hood and a massive lift of the rear end that he would have to skid under.

Nope.

The front end slammed into the bus driver as the bus continued on its path unhindered.

The blade slots on Fenrir closed as Sora righted the bike and roared towards the Tunnel Of The Fourth Dimension, wind whistling through the muscle tissue bound around him. He made sure he was lined up properly before closing his eyes and focusing. The cross against the crown of his rosario lit up, and the gem in the center began to shine as they passed the curtain of darkness.

"Come on, come on, come on..."

Kairi thrashed against her binds, but Sora refused to waver his concentration.

"Come on... come _on... __come_ _**on!**_"

Xion's voice behind him called towards him; "Sora, we've got light!"

Sora's eyes snapped open - the light had appeared at the end of the tunnel, and was getting very close very quickly as Sora narrowed his gaze.

"_Finally!_"

The moment they left the darkness of the Tunnel, everything turned bleak.

Xion gasped, looking around and coughing weakly as Sora continued to drive, slowing it down to a small-town speed. "Sora... is this...?"

The Keyslinger nodded.

"Welcome to Midgar."

He glanced at the ruins of the city as they passed the first few decimated structures.

"At least... what's left of it."

+x+x+x+

Sora took Xion and Kairi to a mostly intact building near the center of the city. Despite Kairi constantly thrashing against her bonds, Xion managed to bring her inside without touching the holy chains as Sora showed them in.

"What's all this?" the snowgirl asked.

"The old Seventh Heaven bar," Sora replied. "Cloud and his friends used to use this place as an old hangout. After that Makonoid scandal with Shinra, social constructs started to... well, fall apart. It hit an all-time high after some pro at the top of the SOLDIERs kind of went all... omnicidal."

Xion was surprised. "And Cloud stopped him?"

Sora angled his head from side to side. "Not on his own, he didn't," he admitted. "But the battle was kind of, uh... hellious. All these ruins? That was one fight."

"You speak of it as though you were there," Xion mused.

The Keyslinger only gave a brief laugh. It faltered out before too long.

"I told you your mom used to visit Cloud, right?" he prompted. "Cloud was kind of... depressed, after she left. When I started to understand things a little better, I let him confide in me. He started picking himself up once he had let it all out."

Kairi thrashed again in Xion's grip, causing her to pull away in shock; but she faltered before too long, and slowly the human-turned-ghoul fell to the ground, weakened.

Sora sighed, glancing around. He approached what appeared to be a rather nondescript pinball machine in the corner of the room, with an _Out Of Order_ sign plastered on the backboard. "Bring her over here for me, will you?"

Carefully, the snow fairy pulled Kairi over to the pinball machine. When she was nearby, Sora locked gazes with her.

"Memorize these movements."

He set his hand in the center of the game board; then he swept his fingers across the surface, tracing a curious pattern over the game. It ended where it had started, and when it had finished, the machine shook suspiciously. Xion stepped back as the pinball machine sunk into the floor, sliding out of the way as a small, bright square of solid steel rose in its place.

"What the...?"

"Cloud's gang called themselves AVALANCHE," Sora replied. "They held meetings here - an out-of-the-way run-down old bar isn't your local hangout. But it was still a functioning bar, and they couldn't exactly plot anti-world-domination strategies in plain view. So they held their meetings down here."

He beckoned to the platform; Xion stepped on, pulling Kairi with her, and Sora stepped on after them as it began to descend.

Below looked like what used to be a meeting room. Two broken pieces of a large table were pushed into the corners to make room for a large, unfavourable mattress that lie in the middle of the room. Next to it was a small bag labelled _Kingdom_.

Sora picked the bag and beckoned to the bed. "Set her down on here."

Xion lay Kairi on the mattress as Sora dug through the bag. "Do you live here or something?" she asked.

"No," Sora admitted. "I had to stop at Midgar on my way to Yokai to get gas. I had been told to meet the bus outside of town the next day, but Fenrir was a lot faster than I thought, so I made my way to the bar and set up a little... nesting ground down here. I knew I forgot something. Thought I left the stove on."

A bright look lit up on his face, and Xion watched as he drew out a cell phone - a small, nondescript flip-phone that looked rather... outdated. "Here," he prompted, reaching into his pocket and drawing out the smartphone that Shijin had given him. "Take this, familiarize yourself with it. That's your connection to Roxas and the rest of the group at school. The only numbers in there are Slasher's gang and him. Roxas is under 'Yokai client'."

Xion seemed excited as she accepted the cell. "Thanks," she murmured.

"No problem," he insisted. "Hold on, we gotta put each other's number in. If we need to keep separate, I'll call you when I need you. I'm gonna call Cloud and see if he can meet us with a little more... sturdy transportation."

+x+x+x+

_"Well?"_

Yazoo huffed irritably from his refuge point in the foliage near the bus turnaround. "I was right," he prompted into his cell. "Kingdom has found a way to pass through the school's shadow tunnel. He's left the school grounds."

Kadaj growled on the other end. _"If he's got passage, that's a problem. Grab Loz and rendezvous at the abandoned prison. I need to have a talk with Kingdom's friends."_

"Understood," Yazoo replied. He flicked his phone shut and started back towards their hangout as the bells went off around the school.

+x+x+x+

A phone went off.

It was in an empty room of the bar, a well-known facility in a small town called Edge. Normally, that room was well-occupied, but its usual inhabitant was absent at the moment. The phone rang alone for a moment; then a young girl in white stepped into the room and picked it up.

"Hi. Strife Delivery Service. You name it, we deliver it."

There was a confused hum from the other end of the line. _"Um... who is this?"_

The girl didn't recognize the voice on the other end. "My name is Marlene," she said warily.

_"Oh! Marlene! Sorry. Can I speak with Cloud, please?"_

"Cloud's not here," Marlene insisted, growing concerned.

There was a disappointed sigh from the other end. _"Is... is Tifa there?"_

Marlene didn't answer. "Who am I talking to?" she asked.

_"It's me, Sora."_

The girl's face lit up. "Sora!" she exclaimed. "Hold on a minute, I'll go get Tifa!"

+x+x+x+

_"Hey, fangs, that you?"_

Sora chuckled as the phone was picked back up. "Tifa~a. Long time. How's the bar doing? Things going well?"

_"Good business,"_ Tifa admitted. _"Marlene said you wanted to see Cloud?"_

"Is he seriously doing business in the Hardy-Daytona?" Sora prompted. "He said it sucked for deliveries. I couldn't _believe_ he let me take Fenrir."

_"No, it's still here. Sidecar's still here, too. Cloud had to see a man about a Chocobo."_

Sora pulled back. "Excuse me?"

Tifa laughed on the other end. _"That's his flimsy excuse for __birthday shopping,"_ she whispered into the line. _"Marlene's birthday is coming up and he said he wanted to get her something nice."_ She was quiet for a moment. _"Hey, it says you're calling from the old bar. What're you doing in Midgar? Didn't think they'd let you off the school grounds."_

The question caused Sora's carefree attitude to fade. "Look, Tifa... I got a problem. I have a friend here from school. She and I..."

_"Sneaking off grounds for a date?"_ Tifa joked. _"Naughty boy, Sora. Don't see the attraction in Migdar, but I bet there's a ton of drinks at the old place waiting to-"_

"Would you listen to me for a second?" Sora insisted. "This is serious."

That shut Tifa up. _"What's going on?__"_

Sora glanced at Xion, who was absently looking over the - admittedly still-full - liquor cupboard. She didn't look nearly interested, however; it was obvious she was staying out of the conversation. Tifa and the rest of Cloud's gang knew about the whole 'monsters and magic' scenario - Zack and Aerith weren't the only ones around."

"I'm with a friend from Yokai. Our situation's kind of... sensitive, so I can't say much over the line, but we have _Kairi Chikai_ with us."

_"Chikai?"_ Tifa mused._ "That surname sounds kinda familiar... Who are her parents?"_

Sora sighed. "She doesn't want to talk about her dad, but lending her 'spending money' justifies a grand. Thing is, Kairi... she's _human_."

Tifa gave a muffled yelp. There was a bit of chatter - she must have been speaking with customers at the bar - before she returned to the conversation. _"A human?"_ she whispered into the line._ "I thought you said Yokai Academy was a strictly monstrous institution."_

"She showed up by freak accident," Sora replied. "I ran into her on day one. She was keeping herself a secret, but someone found out. We've got a few friends at Yokai trying to calm the situation down. We're in a different problem, though. Kairi's in a... sensitive condition. I brought her here on Fenrir, but I had to go really slow as soon as I lost my pursuers. It's really not a safe-transport vehicle. Do you think you could bring the Hardy-Daytona to the old Heaven with the sidecar and we can talk then?"

There was a worried grunt on the other end. _"Sora, I'm kinda busy,"_ Tifa insisted._ "Business has been through the roof recently. Something's going on in Edge and people keep dropping by for their drinks. Plus, it's the Holy Wave celebration tonight. If I shut down the bar, people are gonna start thinking that..."_

Sora nodded. "Yeah, I get it. Look, just drive over when you get the chance, okay? We're gonna have to stick around Midgar and lay low until we can do something about Kairi's condition. We'll be here all day."

_"You got it."_

The Keyslinger sighed, hanging the phone back up. "It's gonna be a long night, Xion," he admitted, turning to the snow fairy.

Xion was quiet for a moment. Then she reached into the cupboard and pulled out a bottle. "Well," she prompted, turning to Sora and closing the door behind her, "might as well make time fly."

Sora's eyes widened. "Oh, don't. No. Please. You're Aerith Gainsborough's daughter and I'm an Ramuh-damned _vampire_. We're going to get wasted and then you're going to make this place look like _Shiva_ got wasted and then Van is going to kill me and then _Zack_ is going to kick my _dead_ ass and then Aerith is going to put the ashes of my soul in the waters of Pandaemonium. Please. Just _don't._"_  
_

The snow fairy looked disappointed. "Come on, Sora, _please_?"

"Alchohol is my Jade Passage, Xion," Sora insisted. "If you want to, I'm not going to stop you, but _nothing_ on this mortal earth can make me drink that stuff."

A sigh passed through Xion's lips as she put the bottle back. "Well, what else should we do?"

Sora drummed his fingers on the counter. "I gotta hide Fenrir. The bike is a dead giveaway. After that... I guess we can try looking through the abandoned shops. I bet there's something here you'd like."

+x+x+x+

"Sora, I'm kinda busy," Tifa prompted into the phone. "Business has been through the roof recently. Something's going on in Edge and people keep stopping by for their drinks. Plus, it's the Holy Wave celebration tonight. If I shut down the bar, people are gonna think..."

Marlene knew what she was talking about. The Holy Wave celebration was the most cherished event in Edge. To close the bar would raise the implications that Tifa was against it.

She heard Sora speaking from the other end of the line. Tifa nodded. "You got it," she prompted. She pulled away from her ear and hit _End_ before handing the phone to Marlene. "Could you hang that back up in Cloud's room?" she asked.

"Sure," Marlene complied. "What did Sora want?"

"He's stuck in Midgar at the old bar and can't bring Cloud's bike back," Tifa replied. "He asked if I could bring the Hardy and the sidecar, but I had to tell him to wait."

Marlene thought a moment. "Why don't I handle the Holy Wave party?" she asked. "Then you can go get Sora!"

Tifa chuckled. "Sorry, sweetie, I don't think that'll work. You remember how busy it got during the Holy Wave last year?" Marlene nodded. "Well, think of that..." she did a quick sweep of the bar and finished, "three times over."

"Woah," Marlene murmured. "Well, why don't I take the Hardy to Sora?"

The hostess' eyes widened, horrified. "Um... that's not a good idea, Marlene," she insisted. "It's alright. Sora said he could wait. He needs to stay hidden, so there's no sense in going in with a party."

Marlene felt kinda suspicious, but she just took the phone back to Cloud's room.

+x+x+x+

"Why exactly can't you bring Kairi to Cloud's place on Fenrir?" Xion asked as they dragged the bike into the ruins of an old building, hiding it behind the counter.

"It's not made for safety," Sora stated. "It's made for battle. That means speed and blade slots and not a lot of stability. Roxas said not to touch the holy chains - that's not gonna be easy. I can't believe there wasn't any contact during the rush out of the tunnels. The Hardy-Daytona's our only choice if we want to take Kairi with us. We can put her in the sidecar, Tifa can take her to Cloud's place, and me and you can take Fenrir without having to worry about that." He shifted around some display stands so they completely obscured the counter before taking a deep breath. "That should do. Alright," he mused, turning to Xion, "where to first?"

Xion shook her head. "I'm not really in a shopping mood, Sora," she admitted. "Is there anywhere else in Seventh Heaven where we could sleep? Like, maybe, an actual _bedroom?_"

Sora sighed. "I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I think Tifa might have a loft in there where you could sleep. Come on."

They made their way back to the bar, where Sora found a hidden ladder that led up to a small attic with a rather comfortable bed. "Go on," Sora replied, "take a break."

"Where are you going to sleep?" Xion asked.

"When I sleep?" Sora added. "It's still the middle of the day." Then he answered, "I'll probably come up here and set up a bedroll on the floor. Until then, I'm gonna keep a lookout and see if I can get this muscle tissue off. I _still_ can't feel my ass."

Xion chuckled lightly. "Alright, Sora. See you." She laid down on the bed and wrapped herself in what blankets were left; Sora only made his way down the ladder and closed the entry behind him.

+x+x+x+

"_Ste~p into the ra~inbow  
Fi~nd another view...  
Chase the tender li~ght  
Borders let's cross o~ve~r!  
Rea~dy to defi~ne the  
Mi~sts inside your he~art  
Take a breath and sta~rt yo~ur li~fe!_"

It was quarter to eleven at Seventh Heaven, and the Holy Wave celebration was in full swing. That in its own tended to be overwhelming, but what with the business the bar - and Edge in general - had been recently, it was _overboard_. Tifa's observation to Marlene had been an understatement - this was easily five times the usual Holy Wave crowd. There were people from all over - standing on one of the tables was a girl who looked like she should be waving staves around, singing beautifully in tune. Impressive, considering she also looked _drunk_.

Marlene was hanging out in her room, leaving the hostess with no company to comfort what this place had become.

The phone at the bar's counter rang. Tifa gave a heavy sigh as she picked it up. "Seventh Heaven," she greeted, jamming it between her cheek and her shoulder as she continued to mix drinks.

_"I've been gone for three days and that's how you greet me?"_

Tifa perked up instantly. "Cloud!" she exclaimed. "You're missing the Holy Wave celebration! Where have you been? Marlene was worried that Chocobo ate you!"

Cloud snickered at the comment. _"I'm in Wutai. Yuffie's not around, but she'd paid her dad already. I'm on my way back with gifts for Marlene - one from her, one from us."_

"She's not around?" Tifa and Cloud had met Yuffie some time after the Midgar incident, while Sora was off doing a delivery for Cloud. She had quite the mischievous side to her, but she was an all-around nice girl. "Did Godo say where she was?"

_"Off on some trip,"_ Cloud replied. _"Hey, I meant to call earlier, but have you heard from Sora?"_

Tifa's eyes widened. "I'm _glad_ you didn't call earlier," she prompted, lowering her voice to a whisper as she finished mixing drinks. "Otherwise you would've missed." She grabbed the phone proper and brought it close to her mouth. "Sora called - he's in Midgar. Wanted to talk to you. Got a couple of girlfriends from Yokai. He needs the Hardy-Daytona and the sidecar - something about a sensitive situation. Hey, you recognize the surname 'Chikai'?"

_"Chikai... Chikai... Nope, sorry,"_ Cloud admitted. _"Seems kinda familiar, though. I'll have to check it out. What's Sora doing in Midgar?"_

"I think he might have got into some... _monster_ trouble," she conferred. "He's got Fenrir with him. Look, how far are you?"

Cloud gave an annoyed grunt. _"I've still got two days before I get back," _he admitted. _"Sora on a rush?"_

Tifa shook her head. "Just laying low," she replied. "He said I could wait until after Holy Wave to grab him. Just hurry back, alright?" A thought occured to her. "Wait, how are you getting back? You said the other day you had to hitch a ride on a train to get there."

_"Barret was on his way past. He's not coming all the way, but I swear I'll be back in time for Marlene's birthday. Tell Sora I'm on my way."_

"I can do that," Tifa replied. "Bye."

_"See you."_

Tifa hung up the phone and turned back to the bar. The singing girl in the robes was no longer atop the table; she was now dancing across the floor, hand in hand with a boy who looked like he had got his clothes from a rubbish sale. His shoes matched. Everything else was lopsided one way or another. He was singing a seductive party song and dancing appropriately and somehow not running out of breath.

"_Swing now baby, now  
Swing it all around, I'll make you se~e!  
__Just swing now baby, now  
We be all alone just you and me~!  
So sing now, make it loud  
Drop it to the floor so you can't bre~athe!  
Just swing now baby, now  
Oh, swing for me, baby!"_

+x+x+x+

"On his way back? Great!"

Xion clambered down from the loft to find Sora was on the phone again. "Just in Wutai? ... Wait, Kisaragi? That name sounds kinda familiar..." Sora drummed his fingers on the counter. "Damn it, can't remember. ... Yeah... Yeah, you got it. Alright, see ya!" He hung the phone up and sighed. "Hope he knows how to deal with this," he murmured."

"Who knows how to deal with this?"

Sora spun round. "Oh, Xi-" The Keyslinger cut himself off with a grunt, averting his gaze. "You couldn't have got dressed first?"

Xion glanced down at herself and yelped, tightening her cloak around herself. Having woken up to hear Sora talking, she had simply thrown it over her (admittedly rather revealing) nightgown without bothering to do it up.

"Sorry," she prompted. "Um... who was that?"

"That was Tifa," Sora replied. He risked a glance and sighed when he saw she was covered properly. "Cloud's on his way back from Wutai. He'll be here in two days. Tifa said she'll pop over tomorrow with the Hardy and we can take Kairi to Edge."

Xion nodded. "I see you're still badass," she prompted, beckoning to the muscle tissue.

Sora rolled his eyes. "I gave up when Tifa called," he admitted. "Look, can you lend me your claws and help me get this thing off? I don't want to scare Marlene when I get to Cloud's place."

The snowgirl chuckled, wrapping an icy claw around her index finger. "Let's start with the arms," she prompted, stepping towards him. She lightly pierced the muscle tissue on Sora's right shoulder and angled the edge further down the arm. Sora's chilled gasp told her that she was in all the way, so she quickly circled the area and pulled her claw out as Sora grabbed the seam. When he had trouble pulling it off, Xion grabbed it with her empty hand; the two managed to roll it down Sora's arm and off his hand - after which it snapped back into form and flubbed onto the floor.

A snicker emerged from Sora. "Nice."

They slowly managed to pull off his suit, starting with the next arm, then slicing off the legs. Those were made considerably easier by the steel-soled boots that they formed, but Sora was left with his feet bare.

A horrific thought occured to Xion as she remembered Sora trying to get the suit off when she had seamed the back. "Sora," she prompted warily, "are you actually _wearing_ anything under that?"

Sora opened his mouth.

Sora then proceeded to close his mouth and turn away. "Shit."

Xion clenched her fist, forgetting she had an ice claw on her index finger and thus digging into her wrist. "Ow!" She gripped the wound and let the claw evaporate, thinking. "I'm... I'm gonna go get dressed," she prompted. "Did you bring any clothes in Fenrir?"

"Yeah, they're in the storage in the back," he prompted. "Left side. You know how to open the compartments?"

"Uh-huh. I'll go grab your stuff; then I'll seam the back, and you can get changed in the loft.

Sora nodded. "Thanks."

After Xion got changed, she made hey way out. It took her a moment or two to remember which shop they had hid Fenrir in. Considering the dark that came with quarter past eleven, it wasn't easy, but she managed to grab all of Sora's stuff and brought it back to the abandoned bar. She then opened a seam across Sora's back, careful not to cut his spine this time; then he clambered upstairs.

The snow fairy sighed, leaning back against the counter as she waited for Sora to finish. The arms and legs of the clawslinger's bodysuit were still lying on the floor, and realizing those would be suspicious, she picked them up and stuffed them into Sora's bag.

A motor sounded outside.

Xion didn't react until she realize _this was Midgar._

In a shock, she spun round to see a motorbike driving up in front of the bar. This looked like a more traditional bike - a clearly visible engine and handlebars that actually steered the bike. On the bike, to Xion's surprise, was a young girl, maybe of age six, in a white skirt and a soft white turtleneck. Xion didn't understand what this girl was doing in Midgar, but after seeing Slasher's gang, she wasn't taking and risks.

Claws of ice wrapped around her right hand.

She was about to call her Keyblade to her left when a gunshot sounded.

* * *

Draco: No way was I gonna post another 9000+ chapter.

_Yes_, that's my idea of an author's comment when somebody shoots at a helpless little girl. Why? Because I'm evil like that.


	27. One-Winged Gunslinger

Draco: As you can imagine from the title of this one, that wasn't exactly Vincent Valentine who sounded that gunshot in the previous chapter. Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 27: One-Winged Gunslinger**

The sound of the gunshot caused Marlene to skid to a stop as the bottom step of the stairs in front of the old Seventh Heaven shattered. She raised a hand before her as the pieces flew and glanced around, looking for who had shot at her. She was starting to regret her decision to take the Hardy-Daytona to Midgar, especially at this late hour - if there was still someone here and they were shooting at her, that was no good thing.

Worried, she stepped away from the bar, fearing that whoever had shot at her simply didn't want her to approach. "Hello?" she called. "Is anybody there?"

"You're from Edge, correct?"

Marlene spun. Standing there, atop her bike, without warning, was a figure in black leather. In his hand was a long, silver firearm with a blade over the barrel. Its owner had a somewhat effeminate face - and long, flowing silver hair that made Marlene scream.

"You..." she gasped. "Are you...?"

The gunslinger raised an eyebrow. "My name is Yazoo," he prompted. "I'm here on a job. What brings you to these ruins?"

"I'm just passing through," Marlene lied. "I thought I should rest for the night and this looked like it would be a good place to-"

She was silenced as the tip of Yazoo's gun was raised two inches in front of her face. A horrified scream passed through her lips as she raised her hands before her.

The fighter gave a light smirk. "Don't try to get in my way," he insisted. "Tell me why you're really here, or I'll pull this trigger and put you in the fangs of Bahamut."

Marlene winced... and then shot forward, grabbing the man's gun arm and dragging it to the ground.

Yazoo yelped in horror and tried to hit her with a knifehand strike. Marlene somehow managed to make the blow miss, which meant he struck himself in the side, before prying his fingers out of the weapon's handle. The bladed weapon fell to the ground, and as Yazoo pulled his hand away, Marlene let go of his arm and stepped on the firearm. He lashed out again.

This one hit true, causing her to fly back and skid along the ground. She hit the broken stair and could only watch as the leather-clad man picked up the firearm and levelled it on her.

"Farewell."

He pulled the trigger.

The shot flew out, shining bright.

And a star-figure fell in front of Marlene, catching it in the center.

That star was kanji, on the tip of a weapon with twin shafts. Marlene followed the blade to see it was in the left hand of a girl with black hair. She was standing there in a black cloak that was trimmed with bright blue and had a spiky white shape on her left shoulder. Her eyes were icy, angry blue, and her left hand was wrapped in what looked like a glove.

_With claws across her fingers._

"That is _low_," she snapped. "Attacking us is one thing, but you would stoop so low as to harm a little girl who has done nothing to you? That's sad."

Yazoo pulled back. "Shy-on!"

The girl in the black cloak rolled her eyes at him. "You got my name from Larxene, didn't you."

"You mean Kurai _wasn't_ kidding when he said we had your name wrong?" he prompted.

She didn't respond. "Step away before I dance on that blade and kick you from there."

Yazoo was silent for several moments; then he raised the sword-gun towards her and pulled the trigger.

His target beat the bullet away with the shaft of her weapon before leaping towards him and lashing out.

"Marlene!"

The young girl turned towards the bar entrance to see Sora standing there, shocked. "Sora!" she exclaimed, rushing towards him.

Sora caught her in a gentle embrace before stepping away. "What are you doing here? Tifa didn't send you, did she?"

Marlene shook her head. "No. I didn't want-"

A gunshot sounded, and Sora moved at lightning speed, pulling Marlene out of the was as the shot hit the door. "Not now," Sora insisted. "_Stay here._ Hide behind the counter, or take the loft - just stay out of the old base. I'm going to deal with Yazoo; then you've got some explaining to do."

He turned away and shot forward, kicking off the broken step and leaping towards the fight.

+x+x+x+

Xion and Yazoo were currently on the side of a building, ten floors up. Xion's ice claws provided a sharp grip to the steel, while Yazoo seemed to be practically walking on the metallic surface and fighting back. He was firing his gunblade with rapid shots, blasting at Xion without proper aim. Xion managed to evade most of the attacks, striking back, but Yazoo only danced away, racing higher up the building.

Once they were on the roof, all the stops were pulled. Ice wrapped around Xion's hair as she launched rapid blasts of frozen flame from her right hand. Yazoo leapt away from the icefire, a black light wrapping around him as he landed with a skid, legs parted, his right hand on the ground, and his left raising his Velvet Nightmare for a shot.

The ice on Xion's hair spiked out, a deadly helm of frost.

A jet-black angel's wing took form over Yazoo's right shoulder.

The gunslinger fired as Xion leapt towards him, beating the bullet away and lashing out with her Key. The strike caused Yazoo to leap away, wing flaring as he fired again and again, aiming for the snowgirl.

Xion beat the strikes away with whirling blows of her Key, bullets driving into the steel around her feet before leaping towards her opponent. Blasts of icefire flew from her palm, but Yazoo only arced towards the next building, landing with a backwards roll upon the roof and flaring his wing as he continued to fire. Xion arced into a flip, beating the shots away with her Key and claws before lashing out with a falling blow as she neared the surface he stood on.

Yazoo only stepped away; he clearly hadn't counted on Xion catching the roof with her clawed hand and arcing into a spiral kick that knocked him to the ground. She propelled herself off the ground with that hand, hooking the teeth of her Keyblade on his shirt and dragging him off the surface. Arcing into a spin, the snow fairy hurled him towards the previous building before landing on the rim of this one, but Yazoo only grabbed the roof and braced himself straight, wing out as he fired again and again.

The snowgirl raised her right hand, the claws around her fingers expanding into a massive icy shield, and the bullets sunk into the ice and stopped there. With a fast movement, she kicked off the rim of the roof and leapt towards him, swinging her shield towards him; when he tried to step away, she shattered the window he was standing on, causing him to tumble into the building.

It seemed to be an office building; uniform cubicles and various outdated computers. Yazoo got to his feet and whirled around, blasting towards Xion, but the snowgirl only leapt around the corner of a cubicle, and the shot only connected with the divider of another. Yazoo leapt towards her, but by then Xion had vanished into the maze.

Things seemed to go quiet as Yazoo folded his wing behind him, stepping through the maze.

"Marco..."

"Polo."

Yazoo spun and fired at the Xion that stood there, but it only burst into icy daggers that flew in every direction, and the gunslinger had to bring his wing around him to guard. As he pulled it away, his effeminate face was locked into a glare as be held his Velvet Nightmer before him.

"Tell me something." Xion's voice echoed from all around. "Why does _Loz_ have one of those? He's a horrible shot."

The gunslinger scoffed, aiming his gunblade around with an eye down the barrel. "When it actually matters," he admitted, "he's not that much worse than I am. It never hurts to have an extra shooter handy."

A blur of ice at the corner of his vision prompted him to spin and fire, then arc around into another spin and lash out with a second shot when another Xion appeared nearby. The ice shards from both flew towards him as he wrapped his wing around to guard again.

Xion's chuckle emerged from everywhere. "Still, has it ever really mattered?" she asked. "Have you tried dual wielding? You would be a lot more efficient handing two Velvets at range and just letting the brute rush in."

Yazoo opened his mouth, but footsteps behind him caused him to spin and fire, only to spin, raise his wing to defend, and fire again at the next one. He wrapped his wing fully around him, firing at the third image before drawing his arm in as the ice shards flew from all directions.

A long moment passed after all the shards had flown; only then did Yazoo unwrap his wing and fold it behind him. "I had a perfectly good argument against that, but when I shot I lost it."

"Sorry," Xion prompted around him again. "Wait, let me guess - you're not used to handling two weapons at once?"

"How'd you know?" he prompted, raising his Velvet Nightmare over his shoulder and firing at the Xion behind him, causing it to shatter.

"I've had to let _Rokusasu_ use my blade with his before," Xion admitted. "The other day, I had to try it for myself and... it wasn't easy. I can't _imagine_ how he manages to pull it off."_  
_

Ice began to rise in each cubicle, prompting Yazoo to spin round multiple times as pillars of frosted vapour rose from each seat. When they connected with the roof, ice started to spread across it, arcing down the walls.

"You'll never find me," Xion snarked, her voice still coming from everywhere. "Even you aren't sharp enough to pull that one."

Yazoo glared, stepping forward and glaring into each cubicle. Each one held the figure of Xion, and each one the gunslinger fired at, causing it to shatter as he proceeded to the next. He was only on his seventh when footsteps caused him to turn, and he saw Sora charge up the stairs, Keyblade in hand.

He wasn't anywhere near close enough for him to harm Yazoo, who only reached into the cubicle. Xion screamed inside, and a grin rose on his face as he dragged her out. With a fast movement, he hurled her against the nearest divider and touched the barrel to her back.

Sora narrowed his gaze. "Leave her alone."

Yazoo clicked his tongue mockingly before pulling his weapon away... only to lash out with a lightning-fast slash across her neck.

The ice doll shattered as Sora smirked at him.

"I never said that was her," he taunted.

Yazoo glared, leaping into the air and launching rapid shots at Sora. The Keyslinger beat them away with his silver weapon before Yazoo got close enough to swing the blade of his Velvet Nightmare at him, and he only dove out of the way, pushed himself diagonal off a divider, and skidded his feet against the wall before hurling his Keyblade at Yazoo and leaping after it.

The gunslinger tried to strike it away, but a twin-shafted weapon caught hit gunblade and held it out of guard as the throw connected with his arm and Sora's kick connected with his chest. He jerked his Velvet Nightmare out of the hook mid-flight and landed with a skid, firing at Xion who stood there at point-blank range; but the figure only shattered, the Keyblade vanishing and reappearing in the hands of a different Xion figure who leapt from the cubicle and struck out at him.

Sora lashed out at high speeds, landing a rushing blow that sent Yazoo flying, and then ducked as Xion blasted icefire over him at the gunslinger. Sora grabbed her hand and hurled her towards Yazoo, who caught her flying blow on his gunblade, only to get a sweeping kick landed on his feet.

He fell forward and landed on the smooth shaft of Xion's Key with his forehead. The strike caused him to twist mid-fall, his eyes rolling back into his head.

The Velvet Nightmare fell out of his hands at he hit the ground, his wing vanishing in a flare of black feathers.

Xion picked up the weapon as Sora prodded Yazoo with the tip of his Keyblade. When he didn't react, he faded the silver and pulled the holster from his hip. Xion shoved the gunblade into it before fading her own Key.

"Come to the old bar," he prompted. "I need to speak with Marlene and I'd like you to be there."

"Why don't I just come with you?" Xion prompted.

Sora chuckled. "I have reason to doubt that's you and I don't want you shattering in front of Marlene."

Xion sighed. "Fine, I'll meet you there."

The vampire stepped out of the building, leaving several ice dolls of Xion to pick up Yazoo and find somewhere to hide him.

+x+x+x+

_"Sora! Is Marlene there?!"_

No sooner had Sora dialed the bar than Tifa's distressed shout came from the other end. "Don't worry, Tifa," Sora insisted. "She's safe. She came here on the Hardy-Daytona."

Tifa gave a heavy sigh. _"Oh, thank Asura," _she gasped. Sora could still hear a party going on on the other end, and someone with a beautiful voice was singing along to music.

"You didn't send her here," Sora prompted, "did you?"

_"Don't even **ask** that," _Tifa snapped. _"She was supposed to stay here. I was going to come get you after the customers were gone from the Holy Wave celebration."_ There was a shifting like Tifa was looking around before she whispered into the line. _"She didn't walk in on anything... **Yokai**, did she?"_

Sora shook his head out of habit. "No," he replied. Marlene didn't know the truth about Sora, let alone the monster world in general. It seemed as though Yazoo had noticed, considering that he and Xion had waited until they were atop the building and out of sight before they had transformed, but she wasn't sure what the little girl had taken from the claws that had been on Xion's hands._  
_

Marlene was currently sitting at one of the tables, looking guilty. Xion was back in the loft, leaving Sora alone as he spoke to Tifa. "I can't bring Kairi with me on the Hardy if Marlene's with us," he whispered back. After a moment's thought. "Tomorrow, I'll bring Marlene back on Fenrir. Is Barret coming by soon?"

_"Yeah, said he was going to show up in a couple..."_ Tifa fell quiet. _"Holy shit."_

"What?"

_"Cloud said Barret was going to bring him part of the way back to Edge,"_ Tifa replied. _"But now that you mention it, Barret said he was going to be here before Marlene's birthday. I think that excuse about a Chocobo might actually have some credibility to it."_

Sora's eyes widened. "No way in-"

_"Shh!" _Tifa insisted. _"If that's what Cloud's bringing for Marlene's birthday present, you can't say that in front of Marlene! Look, I'm gonna call Cloud and talk to him about what's going on. Bring Marlene back to the bar as soon as you can."_

"You got it." Sora hung up the phone and turned back to Marlene, sitting down next to her.

"I'm sorry," Marlene said before Sora could get a word in. "I wasn't supposed to come here. The way Tifa was talking to you sounded like you needed the Hardy in a hurry. I didn't want you to be stuck here if there's something going on. I couldn't sleep at the bar when the party for the Holy Wave was going on downstairs, so I brought the bike. I shouldn't have done it. I crashed the bike a couple times and now that Yazoo man tried to kill me." There were tears flowing down her eyes as she said that last part. "Tifa's going to be so mad."

Sora was surprised that she was able to get that all out so bravely. With a sigh, he set a hand on her shoulder. "Marlene, it's alright. Tifa just didn't want you to come because it was dangerous. Taking a motorcycle on the road between Edge and Midgar this late at night was really risky, you get what I'm saying?"

Marlene nodded.

The Keyslinger glanced around. "It's getting late. Why don't you go to sleep, okay, Marlene? I'll take you up to the loft. Tomorrow, I'll bring you home with Fenrir. Then Xion can bring the Hardy back."

"Okay." Marlene got to her feet, and Sora made his way to the loft, where Xion was waiting.

"Hey, Xion," he prompted. "Would you come down here? Marlene's gonna take the loft tonight, sorry."

Xion nodded, understanding completely. "Alright," she assured him, climbing down after her. Sora let Marlene climb up, watching as the young girl expertly brought the ladder out of the way and closed the entry behind her.

Once it was closed, Xion turned to Sora. "Does she know?"

"No," Sora replied, his voice low. "Cloud didn't want us to tell her about me. I haven't told her anything so far." He glanced around. "I want you to do me a favour," he prompted. "I'm gonna take Marlene back on Fenrir, tomorrow. Can you bring Kairi to Edge on the Hardy-Daytona?"

"Of course," Xion insisted. "Does it ride anything like Fenrir?"

Sora blinked. "If it rode anything like Fenrir," he said slowly, "do you really think I'd ask you to bring Kairi on it?"

Xion chuckled lightly. "You're right, sorry. That was a dumb question."

"Make sure you wait 'til I'm out of Midgar first," Sora prompted. "I know there's no chance the Hardy will keep up, but I don't want to risk Marlene looking back and catching sight of Kairi if she..." He trailed off.

The snow fairy shook her head. "Even without a lock," she assured him, "the seal on the holy chains isn't going to break without provocation, and I'm not dumb enough to touch them myself."

Sora found himself constantly confused by the whole 'holy chain' scenario, but Xion seemed to know what she was doing. "Alright." Glancing around, he asked, "Where's Van's muscle tissue suit? The one you kept calling badass? I'm surprised Marlene didn't see it."

"I put the pieces in your bag," Xion assured him. "I thought you might as well keep it in case the clawslinger wants it again." A thought occured to her. "Sora... where are _we_ going to sleep?"

"There's a few bedrolls around here," Sora replied. "We could lay those out and just sleep down here."

Xion set her hand on her hips and glanced around Seventh Heaven. "So... you're asking me... to sleep... with you... on the floor... of a bar. Is that right?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder to find Sora had found a sudden interest in his big shoes. His face would blend right into portions of the clawslinger's suit, and Xion only laughed. "I'm just teasing," she insisted. "The bedrolls will be fine."

Sora stumbled towards the counter, pulling open a cupboard that blended into the wall and drawing out the rolls in question.

+x+x+x+

Meanwhile, at Yokai Academy, things were not going well.

Slasher's party was still on guard. Kadaj and Loz were keeping hidden, but Hito and Shijin had both confirmed that Yazoo was completely absent - where he was, that was uncertain. Roxas and Naminé had recovered enough to return to class, and after the fight with the cloak, Riku had gotten over the shock of Kairi's attack.

Classes resumed the next morning like nothing was wrong, but Marluxia kept shooting the witch and the werewolf nasty glares; and Rinoa started wearing a glove on her right hand, not unlike that which Keru did. Slasher knew that Keru's gloves weren't just for show, which begged the question of _what was that thing_.

The school was tense.

Like a tripwire, on a bomb waiting to blow.

* * *

Draco: Damn it, another short one.

I... may or may not be starting another fanfic. I'm sorry, guys, I admit this is getting ridiculous. I _am_ limiting my number of ongoing projects, though which is why my previous story _Wind and Water_ has been discontinued and deleted. I'm sorry, hardly anyone seemed to be reading that thing and I can**not** handle multiple AUs at once. I can't even to **begin** to imagine how Kiome-Yasha pulls it off. As for _Falling Angel Rise_, that's only for when I'm in the mood for something dark and/or have been playing Kid Icarus.


	28. A Trip To Edge

Draco: I'm gonna be working depending on what I feel like working on. Ain't no rhyme or reason.

IGNORE FINAL FANTASY VII GEOGRAPHY. I _know_ that the Gold Saucer is on a different continent from Midgar and I know Wutai is on the next one over and I _don't care_. Artistic license, Febass. I know what I'm doing.

Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**28: A Trip To Edge**

The next morning was busy. As soon as Marlene was up, Sora brought outside. Marlene had been on Fenrir before, but she still looked kind of nervous, locking her arms around Sora's midsection with a death grip as he started the bike. Xion watched as he roared the wolf ride around a corner, and she counted to seventeen before taking action.

Once those seventeen seconds had passed, she reached into her phone and dialed Roxas' number.

The yoko picked up after only a couple of rings. _"Shi-oh! How's things with the vamp?"_

"Things are going fine, _Rokusasu_," Xion replied. She had been texting Roxas the previous night, informing him of what was going on and making sure he knew this was now her phone. She had also relayed Sora's number to him, so that he could contact the Keyslinger directly if needed. "Sora's contact said he'd be at Edge by tomorrow. We should be able to manage things here."

_"That's good. The seal on Kairi still intact?"_

"I checked it last night. It's still fragile, but not any more than it was before we left."

_"Gah, I still can't believe that cloak didn't have a lock."_ Roxas was quiet. _"So, what's the situation over there?"_

"I'm bringing Kairi to Cloud's place right now," Xion replied. "Bit of a delay, but nothing serious."

There was the sound of something falling to the ground, and Roxas cursed. _"Stupid phone. Little fighter couldn't have brought a headset?"_ He sighed. _"Be careful over there, Shi-oh."_

"I will, _Rokusasu_," she insisted. "Bye." She pulled away and tapped 'end' before pocketing the phone and making her way inside.

Getting Kairi into the Hardy-Daytona's sidecar without touching the holy chains was easier said than done, but before long, Xion was on the bike and moving. The ruins of Midgar were deathly quiet, but in Xion's eyes, that was a good thing. _At least there's no one to get in my way,_ she reasoned. _Yazoo was problem enough._

The way to Edge was across a massive divided-highway bridge with a tunnel on one half of it. It was quite a long distance away, but Xion just barely managed to make out another vehicle taking the higher road when the highway split, so she carefully brought the bike over to the lower road and into the tunnel. She wasn't that far in when the roar of a motor caused her to glance over her shoulder.

A massive truck was driving towards her.

Xion rolled her eyes. "That's what I get for daring the universe," she muttered, pulling over and bringing the Hardy-Daytona to a crawl. The vehicle behind her slowed to a stop, revealing two figures inside - a dark face with a bald helm and some badass sunglasses, and a figure who looked _way_ too much like Axel Kasai with a pair of goggles on his forehead.

"Who are you, shadow-hair?" the Axel-lookalike asked. He even _sounded_ like Axel.

_And I thought Kairi had it bad,_ Xion thought. Aloud, she said. "I'm just passing through. Is the bridge closed at Edge? I wasn't aware."

"It's not," the redhead assured her, then added, "and I meant your name. Here, I'm Reno. This is Rude." He held out a hand to her.

"Xion," the snowgirl replied, not giving her surname. Her parents were both believed to be dead - bringing their names up was asking for trouble.

Reno didn't question it. "So, who's crimson?" he asked. "And why do you got her bound?"

"...Kairi," Xion stated, her mind racing for a response to the second question.

Her interrogator raised an eyebrow.

"She attacked me, the other day," Xion half-lied. "I had to bind her to stop her from causing any collateral damage."

Rude glanced over from the driver's wheel towards them. "Those are not normal chains," he prompted, his voice deep.

"Yeah, I thought so," Reno admitted, turning towards him, "but I figured if it didn't mean anything then she'd say something about it. So, Xion..."

He came to a stop as he turned back around; Xion was gone from view.

"What- hey!" He leaned out of the truck and glanced up and down the tunnel, but she was nowhere to be seen. The snowgirl was hiding behind the vehicle, trying not to catch attention. Kairi had started thrashing while Reno's back was turned, and she didn't want her causing any trouble. If these guys knew about holy chains, that was a _problem_.

She fired a single bolt of icefire to her side.

Reno pulled back into the truck and turned to Rude. "I wasn't just seeing things, was I?" he prompted. "That girl was definitely just there, right?"

Rude nodded. "She must have those chains for a reason. We need to find her and bring her in."

"Yeah- Hey, there she is!" Reno's gaze shot down the tunnel - Xion, Kairi, and the bike they were on were all screaming down the tunnel. "Step on it!"

The back tires screeched, taking off down the tunnel.

Xion coughed weakly, waving a hand in front of her face to clear the smoke of their truck burning rubber. The ice dolls would only last for so long at that range - she had to get moving.

She revved the Hardy-Daytona and turned around, starting out of the tunnel. Quickly, she brought out the phone Sora had given her and dialed his number.

+x+x+x+

Sora was nearly at Edge when his phone went off in his pocket. He carefully reached into his pocket and pulled out the cell, flipping it open. "Kingdom Key."

_"Sora, it's Xion, there's a truck headed your way with..."_ The snow fairy trailed off. _"Kingdom Key?"_

"Not important," Sora prompted, his body stiff in reaction to the rushed tone in Xion's voice. "Who's in the truck?"

There was a sound that must have been Kairi thrashing against the holy chains. _"There's a couple of guys who look like they're in a hurry. One of them looks like Axel, said his name was Reno. The other-"_

"Reno? Rude? What the heeeeck were the Turks doing in Midgar?" Behind him, Marlene's gaze shot up at the word 'Turks'.

_"You know those guys? Look, they know something I don't think they should. I managed to get them off my tail with an ice doll, but it's not gonna last forever, and they're just gonna keep coming that way. Are you almost there?"_

Sora nodded as he came off the bridge and entered Edge. "Yeah, I just passed the city limits. I'm on my way to Cloud's place right now. Just get here as soon as you can and don't let Rude see you." He flipped his phone shut and pocketed it.

A few moments later, Fenrir roared to a stop next to Seventh Heaven. Marlene hopped off as Sora killed the engine, kicked open one of the back compartments and grabbed his bag.

The bar was busier than Sora had ever seen it - and Holy Wave had ended at midnight last night - but the moment Marlene neared the counter, Tifa had caught her in a tight, worried hug. "Marlene, you're safe!"

"I'm sorry, Tifa," she sobbed, light tears in her eyes. "I won't do it again."

"It's alright," Tifa insisted. "Just head upstairs, okay? Barret's on his way." Marlene nodded and took off up the stairs as Sora neared the counter.

Tifa was glad to see him. "Hey there, fangs," she prompted quietly, putting a friendly arm around him. Sora returned the hug lightly before Tifa pulled away and looked him in the eye. "Where's your girlfriends?"

Sora's face quickly looked like he'd had a run-in with a yoko. "Don't," he prompted. His voice went low. "Xion's on her way on the Hardy. Look, we've got Reno and Rude coming to Edge. We need this place empty if we want to get Kairi in here."

"Got it," Tifa prompted. She quickly headed around the tables, getting everyone to leave for closing. The customers argued a moment, but it didn't take long before she got them all to take off. Once they had, she flipped the sign to _Closed_ and stepped back towards the counter. "What are those two doing here?" she prompted.

"I don't know," Sora insisted. "Xion saw them in the tunnel. They're gonna be here before she is. Let's just hope they don't-"

He was cut off by a massive truck pulling up in front of the bar. "Sonovabitch," Sora muttered.

"Sonovabitch," Tifa agreed, stepping back behind the counter as the Turks in question stepped out of the vehicle and towards the bar.

Sora sighed, leaning back against the wall as the door popped open. "You know that the _Closed_ sign isn't just for looks, right?" he prompted, catching his hands behind his head.

Reno glanced around. "We ran into some black-haired chick on a bike on our way here from Midgar," he prompted. "Have you guys seen her?"

Tifa shook her head. "Nope. Since you came this way, you two want something to drink? Corel wine, maybe?"

The Turks glared, but Rude gave a sigh and stepped forward. Tifa quickly mixed him the drink and handed it to him, and he and Reno stepped out towards the truck. No sooner had they done so than a familiar bike pulled up. Xion was on the bike - but her cloak was gone, and now she was only in the smooth black garments that she knew. Her hair was wrapped in icy spikes, but they had been streaked a bright red that made them look like a sort of 'punk' style, and the bike was wrapped in cool blue patterns like flames.

The sidecar was also empty.

Sora swore under his breath.

"Hey, you!" Reno snapped. He reached back and drew his shock-rod - a baton with a taser on the end. Xion pulled back in a shock, worried, as he stepped forward. "What're you doing here?"

"Um, hi?" Xion prompted. "I'm new here. I was told Seventh Heaven was the best place to get a drink, but if it's closed then I'll just-"

"Don't play dumb with us!" Reno snapped. "You're that Xion girl from the tunnel to Midgar! What are you doing here?"

The girl on the bike pulled away. "You saw Xion?" she asked.

Reno stumbled back. "Wha-?"

"My name is Karui," she prompted. "I was told to meet Xion in this city... I saw a sign that said Edge? Xion was supposed to meet me here and we were gonna get drinks. Is she in trouble?"

Reno and Rude exchanged confused glances; then they glared at her briefly before getting back in the truck and taking off. Their questionee glanced in the direction they had gone before stepping inside - then the bloodred-and-ice-white spikes faded from her helm, leaving her with smooth black hair.

"That was too close," she sighed. "You got a garage?"

"Where's Kairi?" Sora asked.

"She's with me," Xion insisted. "Is there somewhere indoors I can park the Hardy-Daytona?"

Sora nodded. "Come on." He stepped outside, glaring at the bike, and stepped around a back alley. Xion brought the bike through the alley, careful not to run into anything with the sidecar, and Sora opened a garage door within, allowing Xion to bring it in.

Once they were inside, the ice patterns across the bike vanished - and Kairi appeared from thin air atop the bike, still wrapped in holy chains, with Xion's cloak around her shoulders.

"How did you do that?" Sora asked.

"Refractive ice," Xion replied, taking the cloak from Kairi. "Bends the light around it so that it seems nothing is there. Is Marlene going to come in here?"

Sora shook his head. "If she's told not to, she won't," he assured her. "Come on."

They stepped out of the garage and made their way to the main bar, where Tifa had a sly smile on her face. "You're... Karui?"

"_Xion_ Karui," the snow fairy replied. "No need for formalities. When was, um... Cloud gonna get here?"

"He'll be here in a couple of days," Tifa mused. "Marlene's birthday's coming up - after that's done and good, then we can talk."

"Alright," Xion assured her. "You got a guest bedroom?"

Sora scratched the back of his head as Tifa chuckled. "You can take Sora's room. That shouldn't be a problem, right Sora?"

"No," the Keyslinger replied. "No problem at all. Um... Xion, come on. I'll show you." He shot Tifa a glare, to which the hostess only laughed, before leading Xion to the room in question.

"Xion Karui?" Sora prompted, his voice low.

"I can't exactly use _Fair_ or _Gainsborough_, now, can I?" Xion whispered. "I used to use Karui before I came to Yokai. It's nothing new."

Sora sighed, stepping into his room and flipping on the lights. Xion winced from the sudden flare before looking around. The place was very basic - a bed, a small nightstand, a closet in the corner, and a bookshelf - but it somehow made the place more... welcoming._  
_

"It's not much," Sora admitted, "but... it's home."

+x+x+x+

Back at Yokai, noon hour had just started. Roxas and Slasher stepped out of Professor Heartilly's class feeling exhausted and nervous. Slasher waited for the crowd to thin out before leaping into the inter-floor passages, and Roxas only made his way down the halls until he found Naminé and Riku.

"How's the condition with Kairi?" the witch whispered.

"Things are going good," Roxas whispered back. "Xion said that Sora's contact will be there by tomorrow. At the very least we'll be able to make some progress."

Riku cursed under his breath. "I hate being stuck like this. We're worse than useless while we're here. Where'd that robe go, anyhow?"

"Roxas blew him up," Naminé giggled.

"Maybe," Roxas corrected. "I don't know for sure he's gone. For all I know, he's just in recovery."

Naminé's smile fell. "What about Slasher? Is his group still in recon mode?"

Roxas nodded. "I've got them scouting the grounds," he assured them. "If anyone suspicious shows up, the group's gonna..." A vibe from his pocket caused him to stop, and he sighed. "Speak of the devil," he mused, drawing out his Rugby, "and-"

He was cut off as he saw the message from Hito Taberu.

_Do you know an Axel Kasai?_

+x+x+x+

"So~o?"

Sora only glared at Tifa - who he _knew_ could kick his ass with his crown on - and said, "You know I _didn't_ need that, right?"

Tifa only laughed. "Sora, the only reason you can even talk to _me_ straight for any reason other than business is because you've been living with Cloud for as long as you can remember. It's not gonna kill you to have a girl sleeping in your bed for the night."

"That happened already," Sora snapped. "I woke up with her arms around me and then she called me by someone other guy's name and then I broke about seven different punching bags like Steve Asura-damned Rogers and then some sage kid showed up and started casting enough magic to make _Kuro Meteo_ look noobish and I've been trying to get over that since Kairi slapped Van for ratting me out for it. Roxas' _hair_ was on _fire_, damn it! That only happens when he's pissed off!"

The bar hostess now had a decidedly horrified look on her face.

Sora rolled his eyes. "He's a yoko. Foxfire does that in general."

Tifa sighed. "Oh, damn. I'm sorry, Sora. I had no idea that-"

"It's alright," Sora insisted. "I just... I know I need the push, but now's really not the time. We've got some more important things to take care of, alright?"

"Alright." Tifa sighed. "Marlene's birthday is tomorrow," she whispered, "and I promised I'd take her to the Gold Saucer to keep her distracted until Cloud showed up. Can you keep the 'sensitives' hidden until Barret takes her with him?"

Sora nodded. "You got it."

+x+x+x+

Barret arrived later that day in a pickup that looked like it could carry a whole team. To say that Marlene was _overjoyed_ to see him was the same level of understatement as saying the clawslinger was 'strong'. Tifa and Sora kept the info about Kairi quiet, though Xion came out and introduced herself. Once all was said and done, Tifa asked about Cloud.

"I never even went by Wutai," Barret prompted. "I haven't seen him."

A sigh passed through Tifa's lips. "I'm gonna have to call him," she muttered.

Barret shook his head. "Ah, you haven't gotta worry about Cloud," he reminded her.

"I'm not worried about him so much as I want to know what he's trying to pull," Tifa countered.

Sora only chuckled. "Come on, Tifa, relax," he prompted. "I'll ring him up and see what's going on, alright?"

As the conversation continued, Sora flipped open his phone and headed towards his room, dialing Cloud's number. It didn't take long for Strife to pick up: _"__Yeah."_

"_Yeah_," Sora mimicked. "Come on, if that's how you answer the phone by default, you gotta at least put your name in there."

_"Sora?"_ Cloud seemed surprised. _"Hey, where are you? I gave Tifa a ring last night and she said you were in Midgar."_

"Just got here earlier today," Sora replied. Glancing over his shoulder to make sure Marlene wasn't there, he prompted, "Your B.S. stories are getting worse. Barret showed up not two minutes ago and said he never even passed by Wutai on his way here."

_"Damn,"_ the biker laughed. _"Yeah, I'm on my way back. I brought Marlene's present. What about you?"_

Sora shook his head, his smile fading. "Getting her a present wasn't exactly... top priority," he muttered.

Cloud understood. _"Your 'sensitive' situation?"_ he prompted.

"Yeah," Sora sighed.

_"Look, I'm on my way. I should be there tomorrow while Tifa's with Marlene at the Gold Saucer. You can hold out 'til then, right?"_

"Of course."

_"Alright. See you then."_

Sora flipped his phone shut and sighed, flopping down on his bed.

"Ow!"

"Woah!" Sora spun and stumbled off of the bed as Xion un-burrowed herself from the covers. "What are you doing here?" the Keyslinger prompted. "I just saw you out with Marlene!"

Xion's eyes widened. "Ah, crap," she muttered, snapping her fingers. "I must've passed out. When I heard someone pull in, I kinda just sent out an ice doll to do introductions. Then I rolled over and fell asleep again." She yawned. "You have a really comfy bed, you know that?"

"You sent out an ice doll in the middle of _Edge_?" Sora demanded. "Are you crazy?"

"Sora, just relax, alright? It's coming back in, I can break it and we can go out like nothing happened."

The Keyslinger sighed as the door opened and Xion's ice doll came in. "You weren't asking Barret any questions, were you?" he prompted, turning to the figure.

"Nope," the ice doll insisted. "Just gave him my name and got his."

"Good." Sora turned back to the real Xion as the ice doll shattered. "Barret's the big guy with the metal hand," he explained, "so... don't look surprised when you go meet him."

Xion shook her head. "I won't." She yawned again, lying back down. "Five more minutes," she murmured.

Sora grabbed at the covers and started pulling.

Xion pulled back.

"Come on, Xion, we don't have time for this," Sora prompted.

"Let me sleep, Sora," the snow fairy murmured, tugging the blankets out of his hands.

Sora sighed, glancing towards the door. "Oh, hi, Roxas."

Xion shot upright, whirling three-sixty. "_Rokusasu _what are you-" She came to a stop when she realized the door was still closed and they were still alone.

The Keyslinger had his eyes closed. "If that's what it takes to get you out of bed, then I'm not letting you sleep in here," he reprimanded.

"That was mean," Xion murmured.

Sora didn't respond. He only stepped out of the room, leaving the snow fairy to clean herself up.

+x+x+x+

Roxas found Hito on the roof. Axel was stuck on the wall of the stairwell, pinned to it with a katana though his waistcoat. As Naminé and Riku followed him up, Roxas approached Hito with nothing more than a glance at Axel.

"So he knows something?"

Hito nodded. "I saw him talking with the bus driver. I specifically heard him mention 'a brown robe filled with shadows'.

"That sounds like our necran," Roxas mused, turning towards Axel. His dark Keyblade appeared in his hand. "Alright, talk."

"Asura damn it," Axel muttered.

Roxas closed his eyes for a moment. "I asked for that," he admitted. Opening them again, he prompted, "What's the bus driver got to do with this? That silver's a bit omniscient around here, but I didn't think he'd be with the dark in the robe."

Axel looked incredulous. "Are you kidding me?" he prompted. "You haven't seriously gone _that_ dark, have you?"

"I'm using 'necran' as an insult as much as I am an appropriate adjective," Roxas reprimanded. "Just because I've got the shadow half of Shiva doesn't give you right to call _me_ dark."

A sigh passed through Axel's lips. "He's the information," the firehair explained. "If anything goes on at Yokai Academy, he knows about it. When that dark on Kairi started showing up, he's the one who told the exorcist."

Roxas pulled away in a shock. "_Exorcist_?" he demanded. "Okay, he's got holy chains, but that's a necran with shadows where his body should be."

"Just because he's got shadows where his body should be doesn't make him any less," Axel snapped. "No body makes channeling advanced arcana that much easier."

That stopped Roxas. "Wait, _no body?_" he exclaimed.

"The robe is just an avatar," Axel explained. "He got the idea from that Makonoid scandal around Midgar a few years back - mysterious robes that obscure everything when there isn't anything underneath. He's an ethereal being of black shadows and demon light. There's no pure arcana he can't cast."

Roxas cursed. "Where is he now?" he demanded.

"Xe... The bus driver said that he's hiding out somewhere on the school grounds," Axel replied. "After your little self-destruct trick, he's been weakened. He's got other spells going on that need constant maintenance - it's taking all his focus to keep them together in his current state."

"Oughta keep him out of our hair for a while," Roxas mused. "And the bus driver. What's that silver up to?"

Axel averted his gaze for a moment, gritting his teeth. "'That silver' is still the bus driver," he reminded Roxas, turning to him. "He's the only one at school who knows the way through the Tunnel of the Fourth Dimension. He's still on duty."

Roxas scratched the back of his head. "He ran himself over with a _bus_," he prompted. "How is he still on duty?"

+x+x+x+

There was a lot of noise coming from a particular office building.

Impressive, considering it was in _Midgar_.

Yazoo slammed into the closet door again, trying to break free. His Velvet Nightmare had been confiscated while he was unconscious, his cell phone's battery was dead, and he wanted to know what Xion had used to keep the door shut through this much abuse.

The long-haired gunslinger was getting tired. "Damn you... Shy-on..." he gasped, pounding the door again. "Damn you... Kingdom..." He tried to thrust his shoulder against it, but the motion was more like falling. "Damn you..."

He fell away from the door and hit the ground roughly. _Where the hell are Kadaj and Loz?_ he wondered. _Loz is the one who figured out how to get the tunnel working._

Yazoo scrambled for something to support himself with and managed to get to his feet before he realized it appeared to be a shotgun. He glanced at what he had in his hands - he didn't have much, if any, light to see with, but by feeling around it he definitely made out the shape of a firearm. Carefully, he brought the weapon around, set the barrel right on the hinges, and pulled the trigger.

There was an empty _click_.

+x+x+x+

By the time the day ended, Roxas was in a decidedly foul mood - a mood reflected, through a fourth-dimensional tunnel and several hours away, on Xion's face as she settled down for the night. Sora, who was setting up a bedroll next to the bed, saw her expression and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Xion murmured. "I just feel really... displeased, all of a sudden. It doesn't make sense."

Sora sighed and only flipped open the bedroll. Xion stopped him from crawling in. "Woah, woah, woah, spiky," she insisted, "this is _your_ bedroom, _you_ get the _bed_."

The Keyslinger glanced over his head. "Last time I got the bed you got me in your arms by the time I woke up," he reprimanded. "I'm taking the bedroll. You can pass out on the bed again."

Xion bowed her head. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Sora insisted. "I'm probably not gonna get any sleep tonight, anyways. I got too much going on. My brain won't stop working."

"That's not-" Xion stopped herself. "Alright, I'll take the bed."

Sora got to his feet and stepped out of the room, arriving in the main bar area to find Tifa, Marlene, and Barret cleaning up. There wasn't that much to clean up, considering things had been shut down since around noon, but it never hurt to keep things tidy for the next day's work. "How're things up here?" he prompted.

"Pretty good," Tifa mused. "You two?"

"Xion's pretty much gonna pass out already," Sora admitted. "I figured I'd come up and see if you needed a hand."

"We're good," Marlene prompted.

Barret turned to him. "Hey, you mind checkin' the pickup for me? I think I left something in there." He gave Sora a meaningful look.

Sora nodded. "You got it." He stepped around the counter and made his way to the doors, pushing them open and feeling the instant chill of the night air. "Geez," Sora muttered shivering, "it gets cold in Edge."

He stepped towards Barret's pickup and pulled the door open. Sitting inside was a beautifully wrapped package about the size of a shoebox, and Sora picked it up, impressed. "No way in hell Barret wrapped this himself," he mused, turning around and heading towards the bar again.

"Just because he's got steel for a hand doesn't mean he's a klutz."

Sora spun, his Keyblade flaring into his hand as he made out the figure standing atop Barret's truck. His silver hair drifted across his face, and his twin-bladed katana was in his hand.

"Kadaj!"

* * *

Draco: Sora's made it four chapters crown on. Wow. Don't even think about comparing him to Moka.


	29. Voltic Youth

Draco: I'm still in deep shit on Wikia, guys, but this was sitting around and I needed to get it done.

Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

Yes, I'm just gonna drop the copyright shenanigans with that kind of chapter title. I'm _evil_ like that. Commit to memory and get _used_ to it.

Oh, disclaimer, I cut the BSME entry short because there was a lot of unnecessary Mulch that you and I don't need.

* * *

**Chapter 29: Voltic Youth**

Sora leapt back, bracing his Keyblade in both hands. "What the-"

"Shh," Kadaj warned, raising the index finger of his right hand to his lips. "There's a six-year-old in there. Watch your tongue." He raised _Souba_ towards Sora menacingly. "So tell me - where's Chikai?"

"Kairi's not here," Sora replied.

"Don't lie to me," Kadaj growled, keeping his voice low. "She's not at Yokai. You and that silver on the bus are the only ones who know how to get that tunnel working. So where is she?"

Sora pulled back. "Then how did _you_ get here?"

"You _and_ that silver on the bus," Kadaj repeated, scowling. "My _point_," he snapped, "is that you _have_ to have firehair with you because you're the only one that could have taken her off grounds."

"Don't call her that," Sora reprimanded. "She's prone to kick you roundhouse between the greaves."

Kadaj chuckled. "You're trying to threaten me with a girl in chains?"

"No, I'm speaking from experience," Sora replied. "That _hurt_ damn it."

Both of them shivered, frightened.

It was then that the door opened. "Sora, are you alright? You're-"_  
_

Marlene was cut off by her own scream as Sora and Kadaj both turned to face her. Kadaj moved faster; he shot off the pickup with a whirling flip and grabbed Marlene around the waist with one arm.

"Let her go!" Sora shouted as he shot forward.

Kadaj raised _Souba_ to Marlene's neck. "Ah ah ah," he threatened. "One more step and she gets it."

Sora skidded to a stop, growling low.

The swordsman leapt upward into a backflip, kicking off of Seventh Heaven and landing on the pickup again as Sora spun round. He glanced over his shoulder at Sora and gave a smirk before turning away, Marlene screaming as he took off with flying leaps.

Tifa and Barret shot out of the bar, causing Sora to turn back to them. He still had Barret's present for Marlene in his left hand, and Barret swore heavily as he saw Kadaj vanish into the night. "What the hell were you doin', Kingdom?" he snapped. "Just sittin' there and lettin' him take her!"

"It was that or get her killed!" Sora snapped back. "He had a katana at her neck, you think I was going to give him an excuse to cut!" He turned away, throwing the box in the cabin. "Get in the truck. _Drive_ the truck. Let's go after 'em."

"You can find him?" Tifa asked.

Sora leapt into the back of the pickup. "I can if you get moving."

+x+x+x+

Tifa joined Sora in the back as Barret drove. Sora had his eyes locked on the rooftops, narrowed in focus as he tried to find Kadaj's silver hair. He wasn't just working with his eyes, though - his mind was reaching out, trying to find Kadaj's presence among the city.

As they approached a nearby alley, he got something. "Around there!" Sora shouted to Barret. "In that alley!"

Barret whirled the wheel around, causing the truck to skid around; but it righted before too long, and they took off down the alley. Now Sora saw him - Kadaj's silver hair was gleaming against the rooftops, and he still had Marlene on his right arm. She was trying to fight against him, but her mouth was wrapped in something - her screams were muffled against them.

"There!" Sora called, turning to Tifa. "That's him!"

Tifa saw; her eyes were wide. "No way..."

Sora shook his head. "Focus, Lockheart!" he shouted. "You ready?"

Tifa lowered her gaze and nodded. With a swift movement, she clambered onto the hood of the truck, Sora crawling up behind her, and though Kadaj was going absurdly fast, the pickup was catching up quickly.

"Ready?"

"Now!"

The fighter hopped up as Sora dropped low. Tifa's shoes connected with Sora's shoulder, and he shot up and leapt forward, propelling her enough that Tifa was able to grab the roof and swing up in front of Kadaj. Sora landed on the hood again and shot up for himself, managing to hook the teeth of his Key on the edge; he grabbed it proper as quickly as he could, pulling himself up on the other side.

Barret skidded the truck to a stop and stepped out, his steel hand shifting wildly until a massive firearm was on the end of his arm, aiming at Kadaj.

The silver-haired demon glanced around, glaring.

Tifa shot forward, but Kadaj only drove _Souba_ into its sheath and lashed out. His hand connected with her stomach, and Tifa screamed as she was sent flying with a spark of dark power. Barret fired, but all-too-quickly was the katana back in his hands, and he beat the first shot away before leaping back and out of range._  
_

He released Marlene, the girl falling to the ground, and lightly ran his weapon down the side of her face, cutting the gag. Marlene tried to get up, but Kadaj only hooked the blades in the back of her turtleneck, dragging her back; then he held _Souba_ before her, blades facing her.

It only proved his dexterity with the blade, that he had managed to do that without even _scratching_ Marlene.

Tifa tried to get to her feet, but her body rocked with spasms; the launch-shock had carried enough voltage to keep a human incapacitated for a while, and she quickly fell forward and hit the ground again. Kadaj only smirked at her before turning to Sora.

"This girl," he mused, beckoning the blade back toward Marlene just lightly. "She's... not like us, is she?"

Sora grit his teeth. "No," he replied. "She's not."

Marlene looked confused. "Like... us?" she asked, glancing back at him. "What do you mean?"

Kadaj seemed surprised at the question. "Huh? Oh, uh..." He pulled _Souba_ back carefully, raising it before him. "It's, uh... well... I don't mean he's, like, my brother. It's more like... um..." He glanced at Sora again. "Kingdom, how would you describe it?"

Whatever else Sora could say about Kadaj, careless was not one of them. Yokai was there to train monsters to blend in with the human world - keep their existence hidden. Kadaj was looking for a way to describe their monstrous nature without flat-out giving it away. And Sora wasn't exactly eager to get in trouble for giving it away, either - that was asking for a shower.

"We're... fighters," the Keyslinger said finally. "Really... strong fighter. The kind of people who can... never let anything get in our way."

Kadaj nodded nervously. "Yeah... yeah, fighters," he agreed. "That's a good way to describe it. We're... powerful."

Marlene was quiet for a moment; then she turned to Sora. "You mean, like Cloud?"

Sora bit his lip. "No, not quite like Cloud," he replied. "Cloud's a fighter... because, he _trained_. He had to _earn_ his power as a fighter. But me and Kadaj... we were _born_ as fighters."

A smirk rose on Kadaj's face. "Yeah. We were... _born_ with our power."

He touched the tips of his blade to the back of Marlene's neck, and the girl gasped.

"Which means we can't always _control_ when it lets loose."

Marlene was quiet for a long moment, lowering her gaze, her breath heavy.

"So," Kadaj mused, facing Sora. "You want this girl alive. That big guy with the metal hand _definitely_ wants this girl alive. So, here's how it works. You're gonna tell me where Chikai is. Or..."

He pressed down on _Souba_, just lightly, and Marlene gave a shout of pain.

"He's not. Going. To get. What. He. Wants."

Sora pulled back.

Kadaj's eyes pulsated, his corneas condensing on his irises and turning them into cat-eye slits, and he continued to apply pressure, ever so slowly, causing Marlene to shout in pain. "Seven seconds."

The Keyslinger lowered his weapon.

"Five."

Tifa got to her feet, still jolting.

"Four."

Sora grit his teeth angrily, unsure.

"Three."

Marlene started to cry out, tears flowing down her face.

"Two."

Kadaj's eyes were shining with shadows, the necrous blue turning a hellious silver.

"One."

He angled _Souba_ forward to impale Marlene in the throat.

And _raw, heavenous voltage_ tore up through the blade, sending the swordsman flying._  
_

Sora swore, leaping away as the cut on Marlene's neck began to _spew lightning_, bolts striking Kadaj in midair and scarring the roof around her. A dark streak ripped in front of Tifa as she stumbled back, bracing herself in combat position, and Sora gripped his Keyblade in both hands as Marlene's body began to change. Her skin rippled, expanded, her veins rising like a magmic flow down the side of a volcano. Her hair elongated, flaring into long strands down her back, the soft brown becoming a deadly platinum blond. Tribal patterns began to streak across her face as her eyes faded into voids of shining electric gold, and her hands tore into the pavement as her fingers twisted into massive claws.

Marlene raised her head to the skies and gave an angry roar at the pitch of lightning - and thunder boomed from the cloudless skies above.

**_Bite-Sized Monster Encyclopedia: Thunder Beast  
_**_A thunder monster that flies through the skies by riding lightning storms. Since the days of yore, people and animals have feared their attacks._

Kadaj landed roughly, getting to his feet as Marlene drove one set of claws into the rooftop and spun round before screaming at Kadaj and leaping towards him. The swordsman leapt into the air, landing behind her as the strike passed through air. As he spun round, _Souba_ whirling to a backhand grip, the youngling turned towards him and lashed out a palm - and a _bolt of lightning_ arced towards him, hit him in the arm, and made him _tremor_ from the voltage, _shouting_ in pain._  
_

Sora's mouth fell open in horror. Kadaj _launched_ people with that tazer-touch of his. He had blasted Kairi with _lightning_. How the _hell_ was he _reacting_ to _electricity?_

The transformed Marlene leapt towards him, lashing out with a blow that sent him skidding across the ground. He landed at the feet of the horrified Keyslinger and somehow managed to get to his feet without even batting an eye. He shot forward, whirling his blade to a forehand grip before lashing out at Marlene with a fast strike.

As the blade neared her, Sora saw Marlene raise a hand towards it.

The moment her flesh connected with the blade, Marlene _vanished_, transforming into a streak of lightning that shot down _Souba_ before reforming and landing an _electrified uppercut_ that sent Kadaj _flying_. The swordsman arced through the air, whirling in pain before landing next to Sora, his katana falling out of his hands.

Kadaj stumbled to his feet and stepped away. "Son of a bitch," he muttered, "what _is_ she?!"

That made it official. Kadaj was _scared; _shit just got some sort of _reeeaaaal!_

Sora braced his Keyblade in both hands as Marlene shot forward, her small frame tearing with lightning as she leapt forward. With a fast movement, Sora raised the Keyblade before him, catching her strike on his blade. The recoil was enough to send Sora skidding backwards, pushing Kadaj with him. Sora came to a stop with each foot half-off the edge; Kadaj whirled his arms forward, trying to remain on the roof, but when Marlene started to rush him again he yelped and leapt off. Barret leveled his gun-arm at him, but the silver-haired swordsman only bounced off the box of the pickup, hit the ground roughly, scrambled to his feet, and took off with his wing between his legs._  
_

Marlene screamed towards him, launching along the rooftops, but Sora thought fast and hurled his Keyblade ahead of her. It impaled in the roof, causing her to stop as she ran into it, and Sora quickly rushed up and raised his hands ahead of her as she tried to go around it. Even _transformed_ like this, Sora was still a head taller than her, but that meant that her smaller figure was more than capable of dodging around him if she tried.

Tifa was dashing towards them, Kadaj's shock out of her system, and as Marlene started to barrel down the rooftop, the fighter girl leapt in the way and raised a hand forward. "Marlene, _stop!_"

Transformed as she was, Marlene scrambling to a stop tore up the rooftop like a cat to fabric. One hand lashed down before her, and Tifa gave a scream as voltage tore through her at the cut, sending her flying. Marlene roared and shot towards her, and Sora pulled his Keyblade from the rooftop nearby and leapt between the transformed girl and Tifa.

He raised his Keyblade forward as Marlene tried to strike at him.

The tip touched Marlene's heart.

A glow emnated from the teeth of the weapon, and Marlene's blank gold eyes widened. Slowly, the changes across her body began to recede; the expanded figure, the claws on her hands, the raised veins. Her hair drew back, shortening from its incredible mane and darkening from platinum blonde to soft brown, and the markings across her face began to shrink like they were soaking in between her eyes as the visuals returned to normal.

Marlene's eyes slowly closed as she fell to the ground, her consciousness plummeting into a deep sleep.

Sora lowered his Keyblade, his own eyes wide in horror. He turned to face Tifa, who had her gaze locked on Marlene in utter and complete _fear_.

"What. The hell. Was that?"

+x+x+x+

_"NO DAMN WAY!_"

Barret was reacting like wildfire as he drove the group back to Seventh Heaven. Marlene was still passed out; though her clothes were mostly intact, there was a series of very obvious cuts in the back where Kadaj had dragged her back, and there were seams all across the garments where it had started to tear during her transformation.

Tifa winced as Barret continued to outburst at her. "You mean to tell me Marlene's some kinda... what, some kinda _Makonoid_?"

"I don't know what that was," Tifa murmured, "but that was _not_ a Makonoid. Makonoids are complete abominations. This was powerful, but she was still... human, somewhere inside. I think..." She sighed. "I think she might be... _Yokai_."

"Do not bring me up that Hell High, Tifa," Barret snapped, the pieces of his mechanical hand rattling. "Dyne wasn't no wild mongrel freak. I am _not_ sending her to that creature academy."_  
_

"I didn't say you had to," the fighter girl insisted. "I'm just saying that she's not what we thought she was. Her power... that was _lightning_. It was..." She bit her lip. "Her power was almost... _godlike_."

Barret slammed his foot into the brake so hard that the back end of the pickup lifted up an inch or two. There was a slamming sound as Sora collided with the rear windshield - or rather, the windshield frame, considering the glass had been blown out years ago. Tifa had time to make out him shouting "Hey, watch it!" before Barret rounded on her.

"_You don't even **use** that word about my little girl!_" Barret shouted. "I don't care _how_ powerful you think she is! Don't even _think_ about comparing her to that triple-six _freak_ of Shinra's!"

"I wasn't _comparing_ her!" Tifa shouted back. "Do you take me for a fool! I wouldn't even _think_ about putting Marlene in the same category as that fake angel!"_  
_

"Damn _right_ you won't!" Barret snapped, grabbing the wheel again. "That goddamn SOLDIER dropout a whole 'nother class of hell on his own! Don't you _dare_ call Marlene a god girl again!" At that he pointed a steel finger at Tifa threateningly._  
_

Tifa fumed a moment. "Look, Barret, I'm not even going to continue this conversation if you're going to freak out at me because Marlene is Yokai! That-" and here she pointed her arm out the window and straight at Midgar "-wasn't godhood. That was _omnicide_. I don't know what Marlene's power is, but damn if it's not-"_  
_

Barret raised his hand threateningly. "Don't even say that!" he shouted.

"I'm going to say it, Barret!" Tifa snapped. "She's _godly!_"

"Damn it!" Barret roared, slamming his fist into the steering wheel. A good thirty degrees snapped off the ring as he rounded on Tifa. "You little-!"

He was silenced by a massive silver shaft launching out between him and Tifa. The two of them followed the weapon back to see Sora glaring at them angrily.

"Both of you_, shut up,_" Sora snapped. "I don't know _what_'s got you two in a jungle of knots, but you _cut it out_, **now.**"

His eyes were gleaming gold as he spoke, causing both of them to pull back worriedly.

Sora pulled his Key back out through the windshield, leapt out of the box of the truck, and pulled open the back door. Marlene had been laid down on the back seat, and now he faded his weapon and gently picked her up. Marlene shifted in his arms, but she didn't wake.

The Keyslinger took two steps forward and glared through the window at Barret and Tifa. "I'm taking Marlene back to Seventh Heaven," he stated firmly. "When you two stop bickering like a pair of succubi, _then_ you can come after me."

He turned away and took off.

+x+x+x+

When Sora got back to Seventh Heaven, he was almost starting to regret walking. His legs were sore, his eyes were drooping, and he had switched to carrying Marlene on his back to keep the weight distributed. No sooner had he neared the door, however, then he found himself very awake as he caught a whiff of a very familiar stench.

"Is that... the Aerospark whiskey?"

He pushed the door open to find the bar frosted over. The walls and floor were covered in ice and snow - Sora nearly dropped Marlene and had to land on his stomach to stop himself from hurting her. As he stumbled to his feet, he caught sight of Xion - lying across the counter, in her nightgown, with several bottles set up around her. Most of them had been knocked over.

A couple ice dolls were shifting through the cupboards - but these ice dolls were deformed; several were missing fingers a couple had no proper feet, and one was _bald_. Xion had a three-layered box of chocolates on her stomach - the dividers for the top two layers were on the floor nearby._  
_

One of the ice dolls turned away from the cupboard, and Sora screamed - it was _missing an eye._ In its hand was another box, and as it stepped towards the real Xion he saw it stumble. Xion let the box on her stomach fall to the floor and tried to grab that one; the result was several liquor candies falling out of their hands and skittering across the floor.

Sora's mouth was open as Xion turned towards him. A most decidedly _not Xion_ smile plastered itself on Xion's face. "Sorararoku!" she called, stumbling off the counter and hitting the ground._  
_

The Keyslinger gulped heavily. "Xion, _what did you do_?" he shouted.

"I bun waity fer yo," the snowgirl called, stumbling forward and hitting the ground. "Wur wur yuuuu?"

Sora looked around as the ice dolls started to fall apart and glanced at Xion, who started tumbling around in the snow across the floor.

"Xion, are you... perhaps... drunk?"

The snow fairy hiccuped and proceeded to giggle like a two-year-old. "Nuuuuu," Xion murmured. "Jus chocobos. Sum jus. A cundi."

Sora stumbled away as Xion tried to grab him by the legs. "Cam buck hur!" she complained. "I wuntu hug yu!" Sora only shouldered the door to Marlene's room open and set the girl on his back down. Once he had bundled her in blankets - the ice hadn't reached this far, but it certainly got the chill through the building - he closed the door, formed his Keyblade in hand, and tapped it to the doorknob, hearing a satisfying _click_ as the lock closed.

Then he charged into his room and locked the door the same way.

A heavy sigh passed through Sora's lips. "Son of a bitch, what did she do?"

"She found the chocolates."

Sora screamed, stumbling away as he caught sight of another figure of Xion. This one was in the black cloak with the blue trim, and as Sora called his Keyblade back to hand she raised her hands defensively. "Don't worry," she insisted, "_I_'m sober."

The Keyslinger lowered his Key and raised an eyebrow. "Wait, _what?_" he asked. "How can _she_ be drunk as a yellow man and _you_ be sober?"

"She made me to keep an eye out for you guys while she hoarded the cupboards for something non-alcoholic," the ice doll replied. "When she got too drunk, I decided 'screw it' and came down here."

"But... that doesn't make sense," Sora prompted. "I thought she made you guys and then operated on, like, a hive mind or Leigon or something."

Xion's ice doll pulled back. "What? No! That's impossible!" she protested.

"Then how do you explain the seven-hundred voice thing at Midgar?" Sora demanded.

"We're all sentient structures," the ice doll replied. "We each act on our own will, not a hive mind. At the most, she can send out thought waves between us if she needs us to do something." She sighed. "Well, if she can think straight, anyways."

Sora sighed. "What do mean, the chocolates?"

"There was a box in the back," was the reply. "It had a tag on it that was labelled _SOLDIER use only_. Don't ask me why, but it was. She figured that since Shinra was total Minotaur dung since before you thought Mom was dead, it wouldn't hurt to take a couple bites. The next thing I know, she's on the counter and six drinks under."

The Keyslinger turned away, taking a few steps. "SOLDIER use only," he murmured, snapping his fingers in thought. "Shinra, SOLDIER, Shinra, SOLDIER, Shin-" He stopped his gaze shooting up. "Wait," he exclaimed. "That box of Titan's Ruby. Limited edition, special stock 1919, made with Black Cauldron whisk- How weak _are_ you?" he demanded, whirling around to face the ice doll. "There's only _twenty-five milliliters **per layer**_ in that thing!"

He made a mental note to give Xion props when she was sober; she could make ice that _blushed in embarrassment_.

A growl passed through Sora's lips. "She didn't even drink any of the proper alcohol, did she?" he stated. "That thing about juice was just Marlene's raspberry lemonade. And candy..." He threw his hands in the air. "She ate Cloud's stash of Sylkis Mints! Damn it! I've got a thunder beast to deal with and you dig the snacks out of the back of the cupboards!? I _just_ told Tifa and Barret off for freaking out about Marlene's lightning! Now Seventh Heaven looks like Shiva got pissed, there's Aerospark all over the floor, Xion's drunk off of _celebratory chocolates_, and I'm gonna be having nightmares about those ice pieces until I _graduate!_"

An ice-clawed hand grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him violently. When it stopped, Sora saw a horrified look on Xion's face.

"Did you just say _Marlene_ is a _thunder beast?_"

* * *

Draco: I haven't done a good bar scene in _forever_. I need to rectify that sometime. I know for a fact Sora is going to be the sober one of the bunch when I do.

I remember someone reviewed this story and told me they had thought Kairi was going to be a monster in secret. Though I cannot remember their name, that's where I got this idea from. Whoever you are, I'm sorry I am not crediting you, but thank you for the idea!


	30. Day of Strife

Draco: Incredibly lame pun, I know. A _fitting_ incredibly lame pun, but an incredibly lame pun nonetheless.

Hey, people, I am being hit with way too many favourite/follower notices and way too few reviews. Come on. That's just rude. I know this ain't deviantART, but if you're gonna fave the thing, it's not gonna kill you to drop a couple words of opinion. I know. If it was gonna kill you, that guest who keeps telling me to make this SoKai would already be dead.

Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 30: Day of Strife**

Naminé _could not sleep_.

She didn't know why. Part of her wanted to blame it on the magic poisoning, but she finally admitted to herself that her body was just _overslept_. The witch resorted to going for a walk around the dorms, hoping it would tire her out. Shijin Koibito was playing one of his harps in the woods near the sophomore dorms, but the tune, though slow and calming, didn't put Naminé to sleep. As she approached the freshman dorms, there was the sound of what sounded like pigs snorting, but then she remembered that Keru Tatakai was stationed around here.

Then she saw the flickering glow from a_ dorm window._

A deep curse shot through Naminé's lips as she barreled into the freshman building. She quickly clambered up to the appropriate floor and figured out behind which door the flames were sparking.

She came to a stop. This was _Roxas'_ dorm room.

The witch shook her head and forced the door open.

Roxas was lying on the bed, face-down. His tails were alight, three long streams of flame blazing from his waistline. Sitting next to his bed was a 24-pack of Coca-Cola and a 24-pack of Pepsi, both torn open. Several cans were scattered across the floor, along with the divider for the Pepsi box. At the sound of his door opening, Roxas turned towards Naminé - and an absolutely _wasted_ smile spread across his face.

"Hiyyyyy... Nammmiii."

Naminé blinked. "Roxas?" she exclaimed. "What-?"

Roxas tried to get off his bed. The resulting crash was only amplified by the aluminum that littered his floor. "Ah dunno," he murmured, his face full of carpet and can. "I wuz rully thursty... Tuh mush choco choco kweh for me. Uh musta bon speeked."

"Roxas Kaigara," Naminé demanded, "are you _drunk_ on _cola_?"

"Seiwaaah?" Roxas murmured, pushing himself up and falling back down "Nuhuhuhuhuh... Eh no liet wate Nami..."

Naminé sighed. _What's going on? That energy drain must have had a different effect than he expected. He probably can't-_

She was cut off when Roxas, scrambling for something to support himself with, ended up grabbing the end of her dress. Naminé screamed and kicked Roxas in the hand, causing the yoko to yelp drunkenly and fly back into his bed. "Yuu knuu... Yurr purty, Namiiii..."

"Roxas, focus," Naminé snapped. "You need to focus. Somehow. Through... whatever is wrong with you." When Roxas tried to get up and crumpled again, the witch growled. The chain of white gold on her arm shone a bright ocean blue as she aimed it at Roxas, and a powerful wind whipped up around the yoko, dragging him to his feet by the collar of his coat. His tails started lashing around him, but the witch only snapped her fingers, causing the streams of flame to rise straight up and keep him in place.

Naminé glanced at her chain. _This is better than I thought,_ she realized, a small smile rising on her face. It fell quickly as she turned back to face Roxas. "You tri-tailed kitsune, look at me."

Roxas narrowed his gaze, focusing on Naminé's face... and another drunken grin rose on his face again. "Pretty Nami."

Before the witch could react, Roxas had managed to step forward, pull Naminé close, and drop a drunken kiss on her lips.

Naminé gave a horrified yelp, stumbling back and lashing her chain towards him. Roxas' tails lashed back as a ball of water flew from Naminé's hand and collided with Roxas' face. The yoko gave a canine scream, batting his hands at the water around his face.

+x+x+x+

Xion gave a shout of pain, stumbling back across the bar floor and swinging her hands around her like she was being attacked by hornets as the deformed ice doll she had created to help her to her feet fractured in place. She collided with one of the tables, tried to step forward, and slipped on her own ice. She quickly fell to the ground, hitting it with her shoulder as she grabbed her helm in pain.

+x+x+x+

Roxas hit the floor roughly, bouncing off the foot end of his bed and hitting the floor roughly. He fell to the ground and gripped his forehead as though tortured.

Naminé stood there, horrified, a hand on her mouth. After a moment, the panic started to clear, and she knelt down and shook Roxas by the shoulder. "Roxas, are you alright?"

"Uh... Na...mi...né?" He groaned in pain, closing both hands over his helm. "I... something's... wrong," he murmured.

"You've lost too much energy," Naminé insisted. "It's blurring your senses. That, combined with the caffeine in the cola you've been drinking, is causing you to act drunk." To say that Naminé was certain that her statements were true would be complete Minotaur dung; she was thinking on the spot and putting what she knew together. "Roxas, I need you to focus."

"No..." Roxas murmured. "I'm not... energy weak," he gasped. "I just..." A heavy belch passed through his lips, blazing fire across the carpet, and Naminé yelped and pulled away as the flames faded.

+x+x+x+

Xion tried to get to her feet, but her body was not responding to her mind's commands. As she struggled to get her mouth to form proper words instead of drunken gibberish, a most unfeminine belch emerged from her, spewing miniature icicles that shattered on contact with the frosted floor. Weakly, she fell forward again, her body falling limp.

+x+x+x+

Roxas flopped forward as Naminé pinched her nose shut. Unfortunately, that was her chain hand, which meant she also got a face full of magic, causing her to stumble back.

"Okay, that was _gross_," she admitted, "but that was not _drunk_ gross. What is wrong with you?"

"I... don't know," Roxas murmured. "I just..."

Naminé glanced at her hand and focused it towards Roxas' helm, willing her magic to take form. Roxas eyes widened, and for a moment she saw his cold blue irises turn fiery gold; then his eyes rolled back into his head, and he slumped to the floor, asleep, as his tails vanished into the air.

The witch got to her feet. Wind wrapped around Roxas, rising him onto his bed, but she was hardly focusing on the magic; her mind was racing.

_Roxas kissed me,_ she realized.

She glanced at his sleeping form.

_How the hell did he get drunk?_

+x+x+x+

Sora and Xion's ice doll were cut off from their conversation by a loud screaming from upstairs. Sora turned towards the door and cursed under his breath. "Damn it, they cleared up that argument faster than I thought," he muttered. He pried the ice doll's claws off his shoulder. "Stay here," he insisted, forming his Keyblade in hand. "I'm gonna go get Xion and deal with Tifa before she punches my lights out."

He tapped his Keyblade to the doorknob, unlocking it, before making his way up the steps with his weapon over his shoulder. When he got up, Tifa and Barret were standing at the door with looks of horror on their faces.

"I'll pay for the wasted alcohol as soon as I can," Sora insisted. "I swear."

Tifa looked up at him. "How much did she _drink?_" she demanded.

Sora sighed, glancing at the broken box on the counter. "Twenty-five milliliters per layer, three layers... seventy-five mils?" he replied. "She polished off that box of Titan's Ruby and some of Cloud's Sylkis Mints. When I said wasted alcohol, I was talking about what she knocked onto the floor.

The fighter girl's mouth just hung open, her eyes wide.

Barret stepped forward, but Sora raised a hand before he could say a thing. "Marlene's in her room, Xion didn't touch her. The door's locked, her room is completely fine. If she doesn't remember anything about the event, you're both to keep your mouths shut about it until after tomorrow. It's her birthday, damn it." He reached into his pocket, checking the time. "Look at that," he observed, "it _is_ her birthday."

Barret's mouth was now hanging open as well.

Sora turned to Xion, who was asleep. "No way in hell she OD'd on Titan's Ruby," he muttered, picking her up in his arms. "Probably just passed out." Aloud, he called to Tifa and Barret, "I presume you two have stopped arguing?"

Both of them nodded, still open-mouthed.

"Close your mouths," he scolded.

Both of them closed their mouths, synchronized.

Sora only turned away and awkwardly carried Xion to his room.

+x+x+x+

The next day, Xion woke up with a headache a sore body, and a painstaking thirst. She tried to get up and heard what sounded like a victim of slave labour. It took a moment before she realized that that sound was herself.

"Don't move, Karui, you're hung over."

Xion's head fell to the side, where she saw Sora leaning against the wall, arms crossed. Perched at his side was one of her ice dolls, and Xion started at her for a moment before pointing accusingly. "Did I make you drunk?" she murmured.

The ice doll shook her head.

"If you made her drunk, you would have screamed before you asked that question," Sora stated. "You are _very_ weak to alcohol, you know that?"

The snow fairy nodded weakly, trying to remember last night through the haze in her mind. "What did I drink?" she murmured.

"Chocolates," the ice doll replied. "Exactly seventy-five millilitres of whiskey in a box of chocolates. Tifa had to close the bar because it looked like a winter wasteland. She and Barret can't get the ice off."

"That's a whole new low for me," Xion muttered, gripping her head. "Okay, did you do anything while I was out?"

"Nope, they found you drunk on the bar floor."

Sora pulled himself off the wall. "I'm gonna go check on things upstairs," he replied. "When you can get up, come up and break the ice."

He stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him, and made his way up the stairs. Halfway up, he heard a loud _thud,_ and the bar shook. Sora scrambled up to the main floor to find Tifa with her fist against the ice.

"This is starting to hurt," the fighter girl protested, stepping back from the wall. "Oh, Sora! How's your-"

"Lockheart, _don't_," Sora reprimanded before she could finish.

Tifa stopped herself. "How's Xion?" she asked.

"Awake," Sora replied, "but still hung over. Marlene?"

"Still sleeping," Tifa answered. "Whatever you did with you Keyblade really conked her out." She sighed. "We've got to clean this ice up before she wakes. Barret even started firing on this thing. There's not a hole to show for it."

Sora cursed. "Snow fairy ice," he muttered. "This stuff just _doesn't_ break. We'll need..."

It was then that the door to the bedrooms opened, and both of them turned to find Xion stumbling out. She had put her cloak on over her nightgown - though she had remembered to do it up this time - and as she glanced around a muffled curse passed through her lips. "Damn," she murmured, raising a hand before her, "I was drunk."

She snapped her fingers, and Tifa only watched as the ice receded, evaporating layer by layer until the walls were completely defrosted. "Where's Cloud?" Xion asked, sitting down at one of the tables.

"Not here yet," Tifa replied. "I hope he doesn't show up until Marlene's awake."

"Marlene's still out?" Xion mused. "Sora, go wake her up."

Sora sighed. "I'm going. You guys are still going to Gold Saucer, right?" he added, turning to Tifa.

Tifa nodded. "Only if she's still okay."

"She'll be okay," Sora insisted.

He took off up the stairs and opened the door to find Marlene still sleeping. A soft smile rose on his face as he stepped forward and shook her shoulder gently. "Hey, Marlene, wake up."

Marlene winced in her sleep, rolling over to face Sora and opening her eyes. "Sora?" she murmured. "You're okay. I'm okay?"

"You're okay," Sora replied. "Kadaj didn't hurt you too badly." His smile grew. "Now come on, birthday girl. You and Barret and Tifa are going to Gold Saucer, remember?"

He left her to get dressed and made his way downstairs, where he found Barret had shown up again. "Well?" he prompted, his metal hand rattling.

Sora nodded. "She's getting dressed right now. Now take off that sour face and get ready. You've got to take care of a seven-year-old on her birthday."

"Not again," Tifa laughed. "Weren't you trouble enough, fangs?"

A chuckle passed through Sora's lips, but the mention of trouble brought a very real danger to mind. "Just don't get her under any serious stress and she should be fine," he warned.

Tifa nodded. Barret scowled.

The door opened again, and Sora turned to find Marlene ready to go. Tifa reached into her pocket and drew out a small confetti popper that she quickly fired.

"Happy birthday, Marlene!"

+x+x+x+

The trio of Tifa, Barret, and Marlene quickly made their way out, intending to get breakfast on their way to Gold Saucer. Sora dug through the cupboards - though things were quite haphazard after Xion's search, he did manage to find a frying pan that wasn't covered in alcohol. He quickly put it on a stove in the corner and opened up the fridge._  
_

"How do you like your eggs?" Sora prompted, closing the door with a carton in hand.

Xion stared at him blankly for a moment. "You... Are you seriously making me breakfast?"

Sora thought a moment and shrugged. "Yeah. So how do you like your eggs?"

Before long, Xion was downing a small platter of scrambled eggs. Sora washed up the pan before sitting down across from her.

"You," he stated firmly, "are to never go searching through Tifa's cupboards again. It's gonna take that whole sack of repair fee money I pre-paid Cloud in order to get her restocked."

Something paper hit him in the back of the head and got caught in the collar of his shirt. Irritated, he reached back and pulled it in front of him.

It was a huge wad of cash.

"Your big bag of twenties was kind of suspicious," a voice called from behind, "and not exactly easy to keep track of."

Sora turned around to see a familiar figure standing there. He was dressed in a black sleeveless with a high collar, slightly baggy black leggings, and deep black boots. Two straps crossed his chest in an _X_, locked in place with a pin bearing a wolf's-head emblem. There was a long fold of black cloth across his left leg, and a pauldron over his left shoulder held a loose black sleeve over that arm. In his right hand was a large case to house a sword.

On his head was a very distinct spiked hairstyle.

"Cloud!" Sora exclaimed, getting to his feet. "Damn, how'd you get here?"

"Reeve gave me a ride," Cloud replied, slapping Sora's hand. "I take it Fenrir's still in fine condition?"

"Not a scratch," Sora insisted. "You know Tifa's gonna have your ass when she gets back, right?"

The biker gave a chuckle. "Does she look like a dominatrix to you?"

Sora pulled back in disgust. "What the _hell_? You know _damn_ well that's _not_ what I meant!"

Cloud only laughed. "So, who's your friend over there?" he mused.

The snow fairy got up, stumbling for a moment, before reaching a hand out to Cloud. "I'm snowgirl," she murmured. "I mean, I'm _Xion_. I _am_ a snowgirl, but that's not my name."

"Are you from Yokai?" Cloud asked.

"I think..." Xion winced. "Uh, yeah, I'm from Yokai. Me and Sora and Kairi had to get here in a hurry." She sighed. "I need to lie down." She stumbled away.

Sora caught her by the back of her cloak. "Woah, there, Xion," Sora warned. "I don't care how hung over you are, you're part of this, too."

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "You were drinking?" he asked of Sora.

"No," Sora replied with a sigh. "She found that box of Titan's Ruby you had pilfered from Shinra."

"You're hung over because you had _chocolate?_" Cloud demanded.

"I know, I know, I'm weak for liquor," Xion insisted. "Can we just go?"

+x+x+x+

They led Cloud into the garage. Sora flicked the lights on, causing Xion to give a shout of pain as Cloud and Sora made their way towards the Hardy-Daytona. Kairi was still in the sidecar, and as they approached her she thrashed against the holy chains.

"What happened to her?" Cloud asked.

Sora sighed. "Vampire blood," he answered. "You come pretty close to death when you're a human in a world of monsters."

Cloud spun towards him. "She's a human?" he prompted. "I thought-"

"I know what you thought," Sora replied. "Tifa thought the same thing. Yokai Academy is a strictly monstrous institution. But Kairi showed up by _freak accident._ She wasn't even supposed to be there. Hell, second day she showed up she tried to leave because she was _scared_." A sigh passed through his lips.

"But she chose to tough it out."

There was a depressed tone on his voice as he said that.

"More than once, she's taken damage that should have killed her," Sora elaborated. "I only had one way to save her - I injected some of my blood into her. That gave her the power of the vampire - for a while." He grit his teeth angrily. "But when you take down big name monsters, you end up a target. More powerful monsters attacked her. Her body could only handle so much, and now..." He winced. "Now it's taken over her body. She's just a heartless ghoul."

Cloud closed his eyes a moment before looking straight at Sora. "I've seen a _lot_ of monster stuff go on," he admitted. "Hell, I raised _you_ from age four. But this... this is a whole 'nother funnel of Mako. I don't even know what to tell you." He glanced back at Kairi. "Those chains... what are they?"

"They're holy chains," Xion murmured. "They bind back malevolent power. But this seal is too fragile without a lock. If you touch the binds... you'll risk destroying the seal."_  
_

Her words caused Cloud to take a step back. "Holy chains," he murmured. "That sounds... kinda familiar." He thought for a moment. "Hey, have you seen the Turks in town?" he asked, turning to Sora. "I'm gonna go see Shinra and see what he knows."

"They've seen Kairi," Sora replied. "What they'll make of that, I don't know."

"Sonovabitch," Cloud muttered. He turned to Xion. "You know something about these?"

Sora turned to face Xion, who sat down weakly. "Yeah, I've been meaning to ask about that. You seem to know a lot about this seal. Where'd you hear about this?"

Xion raised a hand to her forehead. "I'm too hung over to be giving you the details," she murmured. "I'm just gonna say me and _Rokusasu_ had a bad run-in with these things before. Can we spare the details and just talk with this Shinr- Hoooold up," the snowgirl cut herself off, aiming a finger in Cloud's general direction. "Shinra? As in, Shinra Electric Power company? The guys who made SOLDIER? I thought those guys were history! That's why I ate the chocolates!"

Cloud shook his head. "Rufus Shinra," he elaborated. "Former president of Shinra Electric Power company. His father was the company's founder, and Rufus took over when his father got killed. He's one of the big reasons Edge was completed. I figure, if someone in what's left of Shinra knows about this, Rufus is my best bet."

"You're still talking with that guy?" Sora prompted. "Come on. I thought you said last time you saw him, you slammed the door in his face."

The biker rolled his eyes. "I had a few deliveries while you were gone," he admitted. "Rufus was the recipient of one of them. He mentioned something about a freak accident at the Northern Cave. I hope Tseng and Elena are alright."

"Freak accident," Xion mused. "Sora... what happened last night. With Marlene. That ice doll was saying something about Marlene when I shut her up."

"Marlene," Sora realized. "Sonovabitch. Cloud, you need to hear this. We had a freak run-in with one of the jerks from Yokai. Did you know Marlene's a thunder beast?"

Cloud pulled back in a shock. He tripped on the front wheel of the Hardy-Daytona and only stopped himself from running into Kairi by grabbing the handlebars and swinging himself into the seat. Kairi thrashed against the chains, but it subsided before too long.

"Marlene's a _WHAT?_" Cloud demanded.

"A thunder beast," Sora replied. "She doesn't seem to remember anything about it, but she definitely reacted to a blade. Tifa and Barret were arguing half the ride home because Tifa was on the receiving end of a wild strike and Barret didn't want her using the word 'godlike'."

Cloud angled his head from side to side. "Understandable," he admitted.

Sora did not disagree. "I know this is a lot going on at once, but Marlene's... _transformation_ only reacts to severe danger. She's not a big problem, right now." He bit his lip. "If you do what you can help me deal with Kairi, I'll do my best to help you guys deal with Marlene. Do we have a deal?"

"Of course," Cloud insisted, holding out his hand to Sora.

The Keyslinger caught it and shook it firmly.

+x+x+x+

They decided against going to see Shinra until after Cloud had caught up with Tifa - and Xion had recovered from her hangover. Cloud took back the two broad-daggers from his blade, and he and Sora spent the day picking up as much drink as they could from around Edge to restock Seventh Heaven.

Cloud was the first to admit that he had a quick shot of Aerospark.

When they got back - seven o'clock it was - they found Tifa, Barret, and Marlene seated around a table, with confronting looks on their faces. The moment Tifa pushed out her chair, Sora took the bags from Cloud's arms and took several steps back as the fighter girl stepped right up to him with a finger aimed between his eyes.

"Where have. You. Been."

Cloud raised one hand in surrender as he reached into his pocket and drew out two packages. One was wrapped in deep blue with gold feather patterns; the other was wrapped in bright gold with blue flame patterns. His gaze narrowed for a moment as he held each of them in one hand, weighting them carefully. A moment passed; then he held the flame-pattern one out to Tifa and prompted, "This one is Marlene's."

Marlene got up and accepted the package, taking it back to the table. Tifa sighed and followed suit, and Cloud, knowing he was asking for trouble if he did otherwise, quickly followed suit. Sora glanced around before creeping up to the table, loaded down with the bags of alcohol. Cloud sat down at the remaining seat at that table as Marlene unwrapped the package, revealing a bright red box with a silver shuriken pattern on it. There were four coloured orbs around it.

Sora narrowed his gaze. That looked very familiar.

Marlene opened the box and pulled back in shock. Carefully, she reached in and drew out an absolutely _beautiful_ necklace. It was several bright gold spheres, linked together with silver chain links. On either end was a single white sphere, connected with a deep red string to close the loop, and in the center was a shining sapphire shaped like a classic mythical crystal; large, faceted, and shining brilliantly.

"Wow," Marlene gasped.

"Happy birthday, Marlene," Cloud prompted. "The white ones and the blue ones will glow in the dark, so..." he chuckled lightly and added, "you might want to keep the box or you're never gonna get any sleep."

Marlene nodded and picked up the box again. "Thanks, Cloud!" she prompted, running around the table and giving him a tight hug. Cloud returned it gently; then Tifa's glare on the back of his neck caused him to turn back around.

"So what have you been trying to hide?" Tifa prompted.

Cloud handed her the remaining package - the feather-patterned one. Tifa glanced at it curiously and raised her gaze to Cloud. "What's this?"

"Just open it," Cloud insisted. As Tifa started to carefully peel open the wrapping, he added, "I told you..."

Tifa came to an abrupt stop when she saw what was in the package.

"...I went to see a man about a chocobo."

With the paper pulled away, Tifa was looking at a clear glass box. Sitting in there were what looked like a pair chocobo feathers. But slowly, Sora realized that they were actually a pair of earrings - every individual ruffle on the feather was a different precious metal, causing them to catch one's eye to an absurd level. Each of the earrings was inside a bracelet that looked like woven moonlight - a soft material that _flowed_ different colours across its surface; yellow, blue, green, black. Sora thought he saw them shift to a haous gold for a moment; but then the moment passed, and the colours flowing did not repeat the occurence.

"Holy-" Tifa had to press her monk-gloved hands over her mouth to stop herself from cursing in front of Marlene. "Cloud... you...?"

The delivery boy nodded, a soft smile on his face. "You said you wanted them last time we were at Wutai," he mused. "So... I decided, while I was there..."

He was cut off by Tifa launching from her seat and catching Cloud in a very unfamiliar - and very powerful - embrace. Cloud gave a yelp and tumbled off his chair as he hit the ground, Barret and Marlene laughing. Sora turned away, setting the drinks down next to the counter before making his way to his bedroom.

The Keyslinger found Xion looking considerably less hung over. "How'd it go?" she prompted.

"We've got the place restocked," Sora replied. "What about you?"

"I should be able to help out when we get to working on Kairi's ghoul problem," Xion admitted. "Just try not to get us in any fights."

"No promises," Sora chuckled.

Xion glared at him.

Sora sighed. "I'll do the fighting," he insisted. "You just keep Kairi out of harm's way."

* * *

Draco: Okay, I'm gonna break from this for a while and see if I can get my emulator working again. If it works, I'm gonna get back to Infinite Zero. Again: If you're reading this, it's not gonna kill you to drop a review.


	31. Child Of Shinra

Draco: **HELLOOOOOOOOOO! I AM LINDSAY LOHAAAAAAAAAAN!**

Hey, guys, I am sorry to say I am discontinuing _Infinite Zero [FINAL FANTASY]_ due to lack of reader interest. Not that I blame you guys for any particular reason other than 'classics don't get enough love' and 'no one in the game has a proper name', but it's just too hard working on that thing when no one has any interest in it and it's not doing anything for my pseudo-literation practices.

I will, however, be saving the data for those chapters. If I get demand that you guys want it back, I will bring it back up. But _only_ if I get sufficient demand.

...{sigh} Yes, I also _may_ have another fanfic in mind. I've been watching and playing too much Jidai Geki recently. For those who don't know, Jidai Geki refers to manga/anime/games set in feudal Japan. I need an Action Replay first, though.

Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 31: Child Of Shinra**

A fierce growling emerged in the closet.

Yazoo picked up the shotgun like a club before he realized it was his stomach.

He gave an exasperated shout and fell back against the door again. "Why the hell aren't Kadaj and Loz here yet," he murmured. "Honestly. Hon-est-ly." He slammed the back of his head against it. "You'd think a door this old wouldn't hold up so well. Any other office building door would have broken seven years ago. I mean, it's still got a proper lock on it, even. Shy-on didn't even use anything to barricade it. She just..."

The gunslinger trailed off, his eyes widening.

"Leviath damn it, Yazoo."

A flare of dark light emitted as his wing of black feathers emerged from his shoulder. With his teeth clenched, he pulled a single feather off the wing and then let the wing fade again. His eyes, accustomed to the darkness by now, quickly located the lock, and he slipped his feather in and let it shift until it was as good as any key.

Turning the feather emitted a satisfying _click_ as he shouldered the door open and stumbled until he was on his feet.

+x+x+x+

_"It's been a long time, Cloud."_

"Cut the crap, Shinra," Sora spat into Cloud's phone. "I don't have time for this."

That definitely caught the opposing party off-guard. _"Wha- Kingdom? You are Sora Kingdom, correct?"_

"Good," the Keyslinger replied. "You didn't forget about me."

A light chuckle from the other end. _"It's been even longer."_

"I told you to cut the crap," Sora snapped. "Look, your Turks are in Edge. What are they doing here?"

_"We received a call from an anonymous source claiming that there was a monster visiting Edge. You and your friends, I presume?"_

Sora growled. "That must have been Kadaj," he muttered away from the phone. Raising it to his mouth again, he asked, "Did they say anything else?"

_"No,"_ Shinra replied. _"However, Reno and Rude have reported that a girl with black hair in a black cloak on a Hardy-Daytona motorcycle was in the tunnel between Midgar and Edge, who introduced herself as Xion. In the sidecar was a girl with red hair bound with holy chains. You'd best be on your guard."_

Kairi chose that moment to thrash against the holy chains.

A scoff from Sora. "Be on guard from my own girlfriends? Come on, we're not stupid enough to cut the seal on a binding of holy chains. What do you take us for?"

_"Wha-"_ There was a moment of silence. _"You've been busy at Yokai Academy."_

"Where are you?"

_"Where can you meet me?"_

Sora drummed his fingers on the hood of the Hardy-Daytona. "How about... Edge city limits, to the south. I'll bring Kairi."

_"Two hours."_

"Understood."

The Keyslinger flipped the phone shut and turned to Xion, whose face was practically aflame. "Um..."

Sora needed little more than to glance at her face to know what she was embarrassed about. "If you want to deal with Rufus Shinra," he elaborated, "you gotta play up every positive observation to its maximum. He sees you or Kairi, he's going to try and play it _down_. We can't let him do that or we're going to be prime for manipulation. He is an _expert_ at manipulation."

"Understood," Xion murmured.

The door opened, and both of them turned to see Cloud standing there. "You set things up with Rufus?" he prompted.

"Yep," Sora replied. "You ready?"

"Let me load up Fenrir, first," Cloud prompted, starting towards the case he had set down next to the custom bike. "Where's he waiting?"

"Southern edge of the city. He'll be two hours"

Cloud nodded. "Alright. I've got a few errands to run - then I'll head there and make sure he's present. Once I know he's not trying to pull anything, then you and Xion bring Kairi on the Hardy-Daytona."

Sora nodded. Xion raised an eyebrow. "Um... 'Load up' Fenrir?"

In response, Cloud stepped past the bike, where he had set down his massive sword case, and set his foot against the latch.

With a wicked _snap_, the case flung open, and Xion yelped. Inside was a series of four huge blades. One was a long, slightly segmented zweihänder, starting wide but connecting to a thinner piece halfway up, and divided down the center. The second was a long, hollow weapon - little more than a sheet of metal, bent into a _V,_ with a handle - and the remaining two were identical weapons, with jagged saw-tooth edges like a machete.

There were also two identical, relatively small gaps of a familiar shape.

Cloud reached towards Fenrir and twisted the handlebar, causing the blade slots to fly open. With one hand, he picked up the zweihänder and angled it slightly, checking for marks, before turning it in hand and sliding it into the slot on the right, nearest the seat. The hollow blade went in the left slot nearest, and the side blades filled in the two central slots. Once that was done, he drew out the small dagger-like blades that Xion had seen Kairi using and looked over them.

"These have been used," Cloud observed, turning to Sora. "Isn't your Keyblade enough?"

Sora pointed at Kairi, who was thrashing against the holy chains again. "She's the only one at Yokai who doesn't have a weapon," he explained. "So I let her use yours. Sorry."

Cloud only shrugged and slid them back into the slots. Then he leapt onto the bike, causing the slots to slide closed as he revved the engine, and he took the bike out of the bar's garage.

+x+x+x+

Two hours later, Cloud made his way to the city limits. Sitting there was a familiar semi truck with the door down as a ramp, in the back of which was a figure in a wheelchair. He had a white shroud over his body, and though one of his hands was in the light, it was wrapped in what appeared to be bandages. Behind him, Rude was standing with his shock-rod in hand, and Reno was leaning against the side of the truck with his over his shoulder (and powered off).

"So, Rufus," Cloud mused, getting off of Fenrir. "How much of that is actual wounds this time?"

Rufus glanced away for a moment, as though contemplating whether to answer. "Where is Kingdom?" he prompted, deciding against a response. "I was told to meet him here."

Cloud shrugged. "I figured I oughta come ahead of time and make sure you weren't up to anything." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, dialing Sora's number. "He told you about Kairi?" he prompted, lowering the mic away from his mouth.

"Only that he knew her," Rufus explained.

"Got it." As Sora picked up on the other end of the line, Cloud raised the mouthpiece again. "Sora? Yeah, he's here. Got the shroud on again, but I didn't experience anything that got in my way. ...Yeah, bring Xion. The Hardy'll seat both of you, right? ...Good. Tifa still there? Get her to watch Marlene. I don't want anything happening like you said. If someone sneaks in, she might be in trouble. ...Yeah. See ya." He flicked the phone shut and turned to Rufus. "He's on his way."

"Good," Rufus mused.

There was a long, rather awkward moment of silence. Then Cloud kicked open the back compartment of Fenrir. Rufus tapped the arm of his wheelchair as Cloud reached in and pulled out his Fusion Sword four-sheath - then he came to a stop, and his face fell.

Rufus noticed, halting his taps. "What's wrong?"

Cloud set the sheath on the seat, reached in with both hands, and pulled out two clear cups. One of them had what looked like a melted milkshake; the other was a red juice that may have at one point been a smoothie. Both of them had something black gathering in the bottom.

"Where did _these_ come from?"

Reno started laughing. Rufus snickered a moment, but raised his covered hand to his mouth under the shroud. After a moment, he returned it to the arm of his wheelchair, but there was definitely a smile on his voice as he replied, "Perhaps Sora and his friend had gone for refreshments, and simply forgotten they had left their drinks in the bike?"

"Oh, Feymarch."

Cloud turned to see Sora and the Hardy-Daytona approaching the truck. Xion was on the seat, her arms around his waist, and Kairi thrashed against the holy chains for a moment before falling still. As Sora brought the bike to a stop, Cloud held out the milkshake towards Sora and demanded, "Is this _yours_?"

Sora shook his head. "The smoothie's mine. The milkshake is Xion's. We had an incident involving moonshine and a monstrel that we couldn't put on hold and we forgot about the drinks by the time we got out of it."

Rufus took the moment to speak. "Kingdom."

The Keyslinger narrowed his gaze. "Shinra." Xion got off the bike, and Sora beckoned to her. "This is Xion Karui. This," he added, beckoning to Kairi, "is Kairi Chikai."

Rufus nodded. "Nice to meet you, Karui."

"Alright, niceties are over with," Xion insisted. "Let's talk shop."

"Of course," Rufus assured her, backing up his wheelchair to make room for the ghoul. "Bring her in here."

Sora narrowed his gaze, but only nodded. Xion stepped over to Kairi and managed to get her out of the sidecar without touching the holy chains - despite Kairi thrashing halfway through the lift. Once she was on the ground, Xion led her towards Rufus. Sora called his Keyblade to hand before following suit.

"You know," Reno mused, "that thing doesn't solve all your problems."

"If someone's trapping me, fighting me, or just plain getting on my nerves," Sora prompted, "it's sufficient. Pretty much the only thing it doesn't help with is water."

He stepped into the truck, Xion pulling Kairi in after him, and Rude stepped out as Reno made his way forward. The red-spiked Turk turned on his shock-rod; then he and Rude both touched their weapons to the underside of the door.

The shocks were enough to launch the door up, causing it to snap into place.

+x+x+x+

The darkness was absolute within the truck. When Sora heard Kairi thrashing, he instantly flattened himself against the wall in the opposite direction, dropping his Keyblade and leaving it there until the movement stopped.

"Alright," Rufus prompted. "Let's see what we have here."

There was a spark of fire from where Rufus' hand had been; then it became a full-fledged flame, and he parted his fingers as it rose upward. Sora and Xion both yelped, pulling back as arcane symbols began to glow across the walls.

"You're a _sorcerer_?" Sora demanded.

Rufus raised his hand before his shrouded eyes. Barring the tips of his fingers, the entire thing was wrapped in what appeared to be bandages, but on a closer look were covered in kanji that glowed with an eerie light. "You disbelieve your eyes?" Shinra prompted.

"You have aimed a _shotgun_ at me," Sora snapped. "And shot a _mosquito_ out of the air next to my ear _with no ill effects._ You mean to tell me you've been packing _magic_ behind that?"

There was a brief pause. "Sort of," Rufus admitted. "Ever since the chain of events that started with the Makonoid experiments, I've been practicing in the arts of magic. I've learned the hard way that a firearm and loyal soldiers aren't any good against... _unworldly_ beings. Like him. Like you. I've been too close to death, too many times, to remain careless."

Kairi started thrashing again, causing Sora to pull against the truck wall as he had before. Xion shook her head. "Focus, Shinra," she snapped. "What can you tell us about Kairi's situation?"

Rufus brought his wheelchair slightly closer. "There is no lock on this seal."

"What is all this talk about locks?" Sora prompted. "It's a chain. Knowing my luck, I'd run into it with my Keyblade

"Holy chains are an arcane structure," Xion explained, "designed to hold back a monstrous force within a body. That's a delicate procedure in itself. And the seal is too fragile without a lock to keep it together."

"That is why this girl is comatose," Rufus explained. "If the seal is not properly closed, the only way to maintain it is to keep her unconscious. If she wakes up, the seal will be broken - and without a lock, it will take more magic than I can channel to close it again."

Sora scratched the back of his head in confusion. "Then how did that robe full of shadows pull it off?" he wondered.

Xion opened her mouth to speak; then Kairi started thrashing, and she focused on not letting the ghoul fall and not letting her body connect with the holy chains.

"We need to speak to her," Xion said once the thrashing had stopped, turning to Rufus. "Can you do something like that?"

Rufus lowered his gaze. "I need her to remain completely still," he stated. "There can't be any contact between her and another. And I will only be able to maintain a connection between two. Can these terms be met?"

Xion nodded.

"Then meet them."

In response, Xion released Kairi and quickly swept her hands to the ghoul's feet. A burst of icefire flew from her hands, striking Kairi's feet, and before she could even move, a storm of ice flew around her, completely enclosing her body in a block of sold ice.

A moment passed; then the flame that Rufus had been maintaining above his head went out.

Xion raised a hand, and icy claws wrapped around it. "I'm Yokai," she prompted. "Get used to it."

Rufus shook his head to focus. "Who should I connect to her?"

Sora and Xion exchanged glances; then Xion nodded, and Sora turned to Rufus. "I'll do it."

"Very well. Karui, bring her closer. Kingdom, brace yourself."

Xion slid Kairi forward. Rufus set his foot against the ice to stop it; then, as Sora stepped forward, the sorcerer raised his spell-wrapped hand towards the frozen ghoul. The papers glowed, and his fingers seemed to _pass through_ the ice as though it were water, arcane ripples crossing its surface.

The rosario on Sora's crown glowed bright as Rufus reached forward and set a hand upon his arm.

The arcane markings across the walls of the truck lit up like a fusion nova, and Xion had to cover her eyes with her cloak to stop from going blind.

+x+x+x+

Tifa and Marlene were working Seventh Heaven, waiting for Cloud, Sora, and Xion to get back. Business was back to normal - as in, 'recent busy' normal - and Marlene was glad to help out.

No sooner had ever seat been filled - which meant that people were starting to stand around the tables and couples were perched in each others' laps - than the bar's phone rang. With a sigh, Tifa picked it up and caught it between her head and her neck. "Seventh Heaven."

_"Hey, is there a Sora Kingdom there?"_

Tifa's eyes widened, but she managed to compose herself before replying. "May I ask who's calling?"

_"Riku_ _Kurai,"_ was the reply. _"I'm a friend of his. I've been calling his cell phone, but he won't pick up. Is he there?"_

"There is no one by that name at this business," Tifa replied. Whispering into the line, she added, "Could I ask you to prove your alliance?"

A sigh. _"Big silver stick. Crown on the end. Gold around the handle. Chain dangling from the pommel. It's his weapon and he wields it teeth-up. He's a vampire and he drinks tomato juice to curb the blood cravings. With him is Xion Fa... er, Xion, last name unknown. Black hair, black cloak. The two of them are flirting and neither of them will _ever_ say that out loud."_

Tifa chuckled lightly. "So it's not just me," she mused. "Anyways, yeah, Sora's busy."

_"I'll call back later,_ _then,"_ Riku mused. _"See you."_

"Bye." She hung up.

Marlene approached the counter again. "Who was that?" she asked.

"A friend of Sora's," Tifa replied. Seeing someone come in, she prompted. "Could you get him a seat and-"

She came to an abrupt stop when he fell against a table and she saw long silver hair.

In a horrified shock, the hostess stepped back, knocking a bottle to the floor. The entire bar went quiet, turning to the figure in the center of the bar. He was in black leather, with long silver hair and eerie blue-green eyes. The moment she saw him, Marlene emit a horrified scream, causing him to raise his gaze.

When he spoke, his voice was drier than Ifrit.

"Damn."

Tifa moved fast. With one swift movement, her hands dug into her pockets and came out in gloves. The entire crowd swarmed to the walls of the bar as the brawler grabbed the counter and pulled herself over, flipping into a flying punch that caught him right in the chest.

The weird thing was that the newcomer _didn't even **try** _to fight. The moment the attack connected, the only resistance Tifa felt was his weight as he fell away. The contact caused Tifa to turn, and she spun round and grabbed the wall before leaping over him as he hit the floor.

Her hand flew down as she grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him off the ground.

"What. The _hell_. Are you _doing_ here?"

The silver-hair's eyes opened - foggy and exhausted. "Leviath, you can land a blow," he murmured. "Look, Miss..."

"Don't give me that shit," Tifa spat.

Marlene realized what was going on and stepped forward. "Tifa, that's not him!" she insisted.

"You must have met Kadaj," the silver observed weakly. "My name is Yazoo. I'm a newcomer and I am too weak to fight."

Tifa dropped him.

He hit the ground and _crumpled._

Weakly, Yazoo managed to support himself, if only slightly. "If there is anything you want to do to me, I'll let you," he insisted. "If there is anywhere you want to take me, I'll come quietly. I swear on my life, I will not go back on these terms." He coughed weakly. "But if you could give me something to drink, it will be greatly appreciated."

Tifa glared at him for a brief moment.

Yazoo coughed again, collapsing.

"Marlene," Tifa prompted, turning to her, "get a glass of water."

The girl's gaze lingered on Yazoo, but Marlene quickly made her way to the cupboard, pulled a glass out of the cupboard, and filled it with tap water.

Everyone in the bar exchanged a glance with _someone_; then those that still had drinks in hand downed them in a hurry, and everyone made their way out of the bar.

Yazoo managed to accept the glass from Tifa and drained it in one go. He coughed heavily for a moment, but managed to get to his feet. "Thank you," he murmured. Now that he had some liquid in his system, his voice was quite smooth and... effeminate. "I apologize for running out your business."

"Never mind that," Tifa insisted. "This place has been too busy lately anyways. Who are you, and why are you here?"

"I just got out of an office closet in Midgar," Yazoo replied. "I've been in there for... thirty hours. If you want to do something to me, you want to take me somewhere, I'm not gonna stop you. I'm not in the mood."_  
_

Tifa sighed.

"Sora's gonna kick your ass when he gets back, isn't he."

* * *

Draco: Did I have that escape planned since Yazoo got shoved in the cupboard? Probably. Did I have that Seventh Heaven scene planned since Yazoo got shoved in the cupboard? _Absolutely._

Too short again, guys. I'm sorry for this.


	32. Purity Blackened

Draco: I brought up that word in the chapter name, and you know what that means! ...You _do_ know what that means, right? Of course you do, you're not idiots! Well, except for that dumbass guest who keeps trying to make me make this SoKai. S/he qualifies as an idiot.

By the way, I don't go into detail because it makes me sound like an idiot. When I say 'curled heart', I'm talking about that one from the game logos. You know, the outline that they put behind the game's name? It doesn't closeat the top, but it arcs into spirals instead. That's the one. See, I told you it sounds idiotic to describe it. Especially in the Destati setting.

Oh, yeah, turn on Destati right now. Like, a hour-long version of Destati. You know what? Just turn on _Kingdom Hearts I_ and start a new game. Don't start reading until Simple and Clean is over. This might take a while. Every time you see my page break [+x+x+x+], go to the next area.

Some implements from my dAmn work: dress, Key, neon shadow. Doesn't matter that I've never gone into detail. You'll _know_ what I'm talking about.

Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.

* * *

**Chapter 32: Purity Blackened**

Kairi opened her eyes.

She seemed to be falling. Her hair was moving in such a way that told her, either she was falling upside-down, or there was a light wind of some sort blowing down her body, making her eyelashes tremor and her hair waver.

Either one seemed plausible. She was surrounded by a void.

Which made her thankful. She also seemed to be skyclad.

As she glanced around, her body drifted from a headfirst dive to a full-body float, then to a fall so that her feet were first. Below her was a faded white glow, but she seemed to touch down on something before it connected. Everything seemed to be in slow-motion, but the impact was enough to force her to a knee, a foot, and the back of her hand. Slowly, she rose to a proper stand, glancing around curiously, and took one step forward.

The moment her foot connected, a _ripple_ flowed across whatever surface she had touched down on, like contact on water. Everywhere the movement passed revealed a surface - a massive, glowing surface - and as it went further, it expanded, until what had been a ripple had become a massive tidal wave. The wave arced high over the surface it had revealed before crashing towards Kairi, and by reflex she raised her arms before her in defense.

The moment the wave connected with her bare skin, it _moved_, arcing around Kairi's body so fluently she _knew_ there was nothing natural about it. It became different as it passed, from a clear substance to a shining white glow, until any rational mind would make her close her eyes to stop herself from going blind.

Rather, she raised her gaze to the sky and only let her eyes go wider.

When the light had faded, she gazed down at herself.

Her body was wrapped in a strapless dress made from what seemed to be _pure white __dove feathers._ Not in such a way that they protruded from it, but rather, the feathers were _woven together_ to craft the garment. It connected with the surface below her, but only just - it was such a flawless measurement that she doubted anything like it could be seen again. There were no sleeves to it, but Kairi's arms were not bare; arced across the limbs were haous black tattoos - flowing dragons, black as night, that circled her arms once, twice, thrice, until their heads were nestled into her palms - and their maws were open, each with a shining roar.

She gaze down at the stained glass beneath her feet, patterned into a curled heart of shining crimson, on an ocean surface of beautiful cobalt blue.

A sharp pain emerged from Kairi's neck - something punctured her skin, just over her jugular, and she pulled her head away as something began to flow from the break. A _shadow_ arced through the air from the vampire bite upon her neck, wisps of black mist arcing through the air, and flowing away around her. Upon the stained glass, the crimson heart pulsed, a necrous black pattern filling the shining space.

The feathers of her dress began to move in the weave, each one shifting against another, and from the tip of each, Kairi saw the core of the feathers fill with an icy demon black. It started with one feather, just below the neckline, the single fibre slowly turning from light to dark. Then it was another, this one somewhere at her waist area. There was no pattern, no rhyme or reason to the change; and it only accelerated, the cores darkening faster, more at once, until each feather of the beautiful dress was now a necrous black core surrounded by shining white - and then, each white _blazed,_ turning dark all at once, and Kairi found herself wrapped in shadows.

The dragon tattoos upon her arms began to _move_, whirling across her skin, and as she watched, the haous black of the mighty figures faded, changed, until each one shone a deadly, necrous white.

Then they nestled their heads in the palms of her hands and roared once more.

The pain upon Kairi's neck returned, and as she reached for the punctures upon her jugular her skin began to jolt, like an electric charge flowing through her body. The moment she touched her hand to the punctures, bloodred patterns emerged across her body, starting at her jugular, circling her neck, and rising across her face - like a demonic hand closed across her face from below.

The mist that had passed from the punctures now descended across from her. While Kairi stood at the tip of the curled heart, the darkness now gathered at the gap where it should have joined, shifting around. After a moment had passed, that shadow took form, stretching and elongating until it stood there, skyclad as Kairi had been.

It was Kairi.

With skin pale like a new moon.

With hair crossed by a thousand shadows.

With nails tapered into claws.

With eyes of fresh blood.

And when she opened her mouth to speak, it was with fangs arced to points.

And with a voice steeped in a black heart.

"You have met the enemy, and she is you."

Kairi closed her eyes slowly, then opened them with no more speed.

"Who are you?"

The bare mirror across from her only smirked. "I'm your darkness," she replied. "I'm the shadow you've claimed." She scoffed, glancing down at her self. "I know, pathetic. I don't get a fancy dress like you do. I don't get your everyday clothes. I don't even get a full presence."

It was true - her figure, skyclad as it was, was not fully there. Everything below her neck seemed to be flickering in and out of existence. Not as a whole, either - it was faded patches, vanishing and reappearing at random. Even her hair, where it was not connected to her helm, was not exempt - although it did seem to fade far less often, it could simply be that it's dark hue made it hard to tell.

"But then again," the darkness mused, raising her gaze to Kairi once more, "you're not exactly shining light either, are you?"

Kairi glanced at her right arm, the white dragon curled around it. It was white, a stunning white against her skin, and yet it was more necrous than anything Kairi had ever seen. Darker than Kadaj with his wing raised, darker than Riku under a full moon - and darker than the clawslinger she had come to depend on.

The clawslinger...

"That's right." The shadow's voice caused Kairi to raise her gaze. "The blood. The essence of the vampire. From the moment his fangs pierced your skin, that first day you arrived at Yokai Academy, your purity has been accepting _impurity._ It was slow. Unbearably, inconsiderately _crawling._ Disgustingly _agonizing._ You're just too good, aren't you? You won't admit that you're one of them."

"I. Am. _Not._ One. Of. Them."

The darkness clicked her tongue. "Ooh, he's not gonna like that."

"Sora has _accepted_ me," Kairi stated firmly.

"I'm not _talking_ about _Sora._"

The statement sent the station into a complete silence.

It was broken before too long. "He only sees you as food. Once you're empty, he's going to throw you away."

"Then explain this," Kairi demanded, raising her left hand towards the punctures on the right side of her neck. "Why would he save me, only to kill me?"

"Why does a diver repair his tank, only to drain it?" the shadow retaliated. "Because it still holds what he wants. And when it's empty, he replaces it - because to him, it's no better than all the others lined up."_  
_

"Don't you dare," Kairi growled.

A single haughty laugh passed through the darkness' lips. "Or what?" she taunted. "You'll strike me down? You know full well that you can." A scoff. "But what good will that do? If I get destroyed, I return to the source."

Kairi narrowed her gaze. "You say that like you've left it in the first place."_  
_

"Precisely!" the darkness mused, sweeping a hand out. "You see those marks? That's all your friends can see. A girl wrapped in blood. _Thirsty_ for blood. If you strike me down, you fuel the darkness that you see before you."_  
_

She held out a hand - and a single flower appeared between her fingers, a stunning island growth of beautiful sunset gold.

Kairi glanced at her own hand, watching as an identical island flower bloomed from thin air and settled upon her palm.

"But if I strike you down..." the shadow added. "It's not the single sting that kills you - it's the swarm. If _I_ strike _you_ down - and with enough strikes, you _will_ fall - I can whittle away at your light. If either of us falls, we will return. Like a war by the hands of Shinryu, we will fight again and again. Without end.

"Empower the darkness, or falter the light. It's your choice."

Kairi glanced at the flower in her hand for the longest moment.

"Two blades on the battlefield," she recited. "How different, how alike. Their size, their form. Strength, weakness. All is nothing. For the will behind the weapons empowers the clashing strikes. For neither the soldier nor the champion has determination that can overcome the other. Only another that _chooses_ to enter, to interfere with this endless clash, can bring one to strike the other down. A brawler who wishes to end this eternal balance. But they are closed off, separated from the outside world."

Her hand closed around the flower.

"And that means neither edge will break."

A flare of light coursed from her hand, elongating into a massive edge - a sword, crafted from pure haea, the handle but a flower in Kairi's hand. With a single swift movement she aimed the weapon at the darkness, as the shadow braced the flower between her fingers, out to her side.

The blade was long enough that they were standing at opposite ends of the station - and Kairi's blade was still right between the shadow's eyes.

"I don't _want_ to fight you," she stated. "And _you_ don't want to fight _me_. So why would we waste time on a battle neither of us has the will for?"

The darkness was silent for a long moment.

"That's not fair. You're in a dress."

A smirk rose on Kairi's face as the haea blade vanished, and she held the flower between her fingers, rather than in a closed grip.

The shadow glanced at the flower in her hand, a concerned expression on her face.

Then that expression changed, and she raised her empty hand above her helm as her grip closed around the flower.

The blade wasn't even fully formed before the shadow plunged it into the station, sending waves of raw void across the stained glass, and Kairi had only time to close her hand around her own before the darkness passed below her feet.

Her weapon was in her hand - but the waves drew her under before she could even swing.

+x+x+x+

The void was complete, absolute. It didn't stop Kairi from thrashing against it, but that's because there was nothing for her to escape to. He hand was closed against the flower, but the blade was gone; all she had left was an island growth.

A growth that found itself pressed to a stained glass surface.

Kairi stopped moving, but it took her a while to realize she was no longer drowning in darkness. Slowly, she rose to her feet, the black-dove dress shifting around her, the necrous white dragons upon her arms roaring silently, and picked the feather from the ground.

The station was a massive golden surface, with six figures upon it. One was the ever-familiar silver weapon - Sora's Keyblade, crown tip and golden guard. The chain trailing from the pommel closed around the handle of Soul Eater - Riku's dragon wingblade was flared out so that the edge faced away from the teeth of Sora's silver weapon. Around the tip was a shining white gold chain, which lashed it to the teeth of a much darker weapon - Roxas' black Key. The black chain that flowed from between the demon's wings of the guard, ending with a single gold link, was twisted into a _χ_ with a white chain ending on a thalassa shell - Xion's shining Key.

Ringing the station was a series of stars.

"The layers of your heart show what fate has given you."

She turned, sweeping her feather to the side, to see her skyclad darkness, a figure that would not maintain, standing there with a smirk on her face.

"And I'm nothing if not _loving_ that reaction."

Her grip was closed around her flower, and it had become a blade, as Kairi's had - but the blade was small, a dagger rather than a sword - even as she held it before her eyes, it wasn't even long enough to obscure both visuals completely.

Her necrous smirk faded, and she lowered the weapon. "Still pathetic," she admitted, letting the flower fall to between her fingers as the edge faded. "You seriously need to grow a little darker."

Kairi's gaze narrowed. "What do you want from me?"

"I'm not the one who brought you here," the shadow retaliated. "Your soul has been trapped inside your own heart, because your conscious mind cannot process in the body of a hell. And in your heart, there is only Kairi."

She raised her flower towards the feathered dress.

"You are the oath."

Then she held it to her chest.

"And I, the oblivion."

Kairi glanced at the flower in her own hands.

"Why are you and I separate?"

The darkness fell quiet at that.

"Because you are pure."

Kairi's eyes widened.

"And that is something that _none of them_ can claim."

There was a moment of silence. "Then that means you...?"

The shadow nodded. "You are the pure light in your heart. And I, the darkness that has tried to enter."

Kairi shook her head rapidly. "Then... explain this. Explain all of this!" She held her hands out to her sides, the dragons on her arms shining against her skin, the black dove feathers rippling. "If I'm the pure light, explain why I'm _covered in blood!_"

Her only response was a smirk on the face of the darkness, and Kairi's arms fell.

"Purity accepting impurity," she murmured, answering her own question.

Now the shadow closed her hand around the flower, her necrous dagger flaring into her hand once again. "Now, you have a choice to make," she mused. "That impurity is darkness. And so am I. If you wish, I can pull that impurity from you. You'll be pure light again. But that means giving me more darkness to work with. You want to be pure again, Kairi? You want to a blinding light? Because that means you'll never let go of the fact that you let your shadow _grow.__  
_

"And that means your edge _will_ break."

Kairi closed her hand around her own flower, forming her massive sword of haea.

The shadow smirked, bracing her weapon to the side.

Silence.

Silence...

Then a resonate sound echoed throughout the station, and both faces fell as a _tremor crossed the void around them._

Light and darkness found themselves back-to-back, the shadow's skyclad figure pressed to Kairi's black-dove dress as the station began to _shatter from the outside in._

Darkness and light both realized that this was not an enemy they could fight, and voiced it at once.

"Oh, for the love of Feymarch."

Then they _plummeted._

+x+x+x+

The dive was wordless, foeless - neither light nor darkness could move as they fell, passing each other once or twice - but it was not an eternity before another surface rose below them. Both darkness and light turned in midair, falling spread-eagle for a brief moment, and the shadow overcame the shine for a brief moment before they fell upright.

The darkness landed, leaping away and crossing her arms over her chest as the blade of her dagger returned.

The light touched down with equal dexterity, empty hand to the stained glass as the edge of her sword flared out.

There was a moment of silence; then the two stood straight and let their flowers fall between their fingers as their weapons faded.

"More cinematics?" Kairi mused.

"You thought I planned that?" the shadow retaliated. "I was still trying to figure out what that chain was on the last station."

Kairi set her fingers on her chin, perching her elbow on the back of her other hand. "So neither of us knows what that was."

This station was different from the others - upon its surface was something that Kairi had _not_ seen before. It was a massive gear, black and bloodred, split down the middle and slid into an_ S_. Behind it was a labyrinthine series of interlocking gears, all varying hues of necrous silver, and what of the station wasn't geared was a cold bloodred. Around the edges of the station were images of a curious emblem - twin feathers, twisted into tornadoes - in shining platinum.

Shine and shadow both shuddered. "I don't like this one," the darkness mused. "Blame your Asura-damned light if this sounds weird, but I _don't like this one_. It's too..."

"Necrous?" Kairi offered.

"_Artificial_," the shadow corrected. "Is there a way out of here?"

Kairi glanced around, turning her flower in hand. The edges of the stained glass circle were a straight plummet into the void, and she had a feeling this one wasn't going to break when the conversation peaked. There was nothing with them to use - just their flowers and their blades. She glanced at the island growth in her hand, locking on the head as she turned it.

Without any other idea, she whirled it on one finger.

"Dark, we jump."

She flicked the flower into the air, causing it to spin as it tumbled, reaching the peak just past Kairi's helm and falling to the stained glass.

It touched down, completely level between light and darkness, the head facing straight down the split gear.

And a flare of energy emerged over the center of that _S_, causing both of them to turn towards it.

When the energy faded, standing where it had emerged was a door. It was tall, and ornate - beautiful silver, inlaid with stunning garnets and curled with a beautiful glow. Curiously, Kairi knelt down and picked up her flower before stepping towards the door.

"What is this?" she asked.

"I don't know," the darkness replied honestly.

A moment passed as Kairi contemplated that statement.

"Open it?' her shadow recommended.

A light smile emerged on her face as she glanced back at the skyclad image of her darkened self.

"See you when I get out."

Then she turned back to the door, and she set the flower between her teeth as she gripped the handles of the door.

The world faded in white as she pulled it open.

+x+x+x+

When she opened her eyes, she was on the roof of Yokai Academy. It was the dead of night, the full moon high in the sky, and before her were the iceblasted thrones, cushioned with snow, that Xion had made Kairi sit on when she had first received Sora's blood.

Speak of the devil, and Pandaemonium shall rise.

Sitting on one of the thrones was an unfamiliar figure, covered by a white shroud. One of his hands was visible; it seemed to be wrapped in bandages, but at a closer look she saw they were covered in writings that looked almost... arcane.

Seated on the other throne was Sora Kingdom.

His right eye was ocean blue, his left was vampire gold.

His hair was black on that side, and the nails of that hand were claws like pin tumbler keys.

Both of them turned to face Kairi. Sora was the one who reacted, jolting in his seat. Kairi pulled back slightly - but her hands were empty, and the flower gone from her lips.

"...Kairi?"

His voice was a strange synchronicity, halfway between Key and claw.

"Sora...?" Her voice was in shock. "How did you...?"

The vampire beckoned to the shrouded figure with his clawed hand. "This is Rufus Shinra, second president and CEO of Shinra Electric Power company, utter and complete manipulative bastard, one-handed shotgun slinger. Apparently, also a sorcerer to back it up."

"You're insulting me," Shinra mused, turning towards Sora again. He turned back to Kairi, his face still in the shadows of his shroud. "So, you are the girl bound in holy chains."

"Holy chains?" Kairi demanded. "What are you talking about?"

Sora bit his lip. The fang that was jutting from the left side of his mouth meant the action punctured the lip and drew blood. "Kairi... what do you remember - from the real world."

Kairi tried to focus. "School basement, exterior entrance, big open space, you and Xion were bound to the walls-" Her eyes widened. "Holy Cross Flaming _Shiva_, what happened? Marluxia Scythe was in there!"

"You threw yourself in front of her attacks, trying to protect me." The clawslinger's voice dominant as he said that, a strange blend of irritated... and depressed. "What of my blood you had through your veins as of then was able to get you to your feet - and taking a scythe to the arms and shoulder pushed you too far."

He winced. "You fell, Kairi," he stated. "Your body was dying. Breaking apart on the outside, and torn by itself on the inside. But why... You made me give you my blood. You knew it was too dangerous - but you dragged me down and _demanded_ I bite you and give you the power of the Nosferatu once more."

Kairi set a hand on the punctures upon her neck. "You mean...?"

"You're a ghoul, Kairi." Now it was the Keyslinger's voice that was stronger as he spoke. "The vampire blood has corroded your humanity. Your body is wrapped in holy chains - they're the only thing that stop you from going on a hellish rampage. You've been catatonic for four days."

The figure of light glanced down at herself - black dove feathers, and necrous white dragons around her arms. "So that's what she meant..."

"Who?"

Kairi shook her head. "Not important. Look," she prompted, turning to Shinra, "if these... holy chains are holding the... ghoul... down, then why haven't I been awake in the real world?"

"The seal is not complete," Shinra replied. "The chains are without a lock - the seal is too fragile. It keeps your body in rest in order to maintain the seal. If you wake, the chain will shatter, and the ghoul will be released once more."

A curse passed through Kairi's lips. "I hate this."

"What?" Sora prompted.

"I hate being _helpless_ like this!" Kairi shouted. "Every time, I'm trapped on the sidelines while _everyone else_ is doing the fighting! I don't _want_ to just sit back and _watch!_"

There was a moment of silence.

"I may be able to help with that."

Both Kairi and Sora turned at Shinra's statement. "What are you talking about?" Sora asked. "You just said the seal is too fragile without a lock."

Shinra turned back to him. "It is. And if you don't act fast, it's going to break. But if you are willing," - and here he turned back to Kairi once again - "I can provide you with the ability to make a conscious effort on the field."

"How can you do that?" Kairi prompted.

"Kingdom told you," Shinra reprimanded. "I'm a sorcerer. I can't make seals, yet, but I can alter them. If you desire to assist your friends rather than depend on them, I can provide you with... limited time."

"How limited?" Kairi stated.

"Ninety-six hours, to the nanonsecond," Shinra replied. "I don't want to initiate it until we know how to seal it properly, but I _can_ provide you with four days to assist once all is decided."

Kairi glanced at the dragon on her right arm.

Then she nodded. "Do it."

+x+x+x+

Kairi opened her eyes.

That felt expressly weird when they _hadn't been closed in the first place._

She was on a fourth image of stained glass. This one was a shining surface of emerald green, and upon it was Kairi's own skyclad figure. Her arms were crossed over her chest, her eyes closed as though in slumber, and her hair was parted around her. Surrounding her were the faces of her friends - Sora, Naminé, Riku, Xion, Roxas. Ringing the edge of the station were images of the same curled heart from the fourth.

A soft smile rose on her face as the sight of it. Monsters, every one of them a dark face - but shining within.

"You're lucky."

She raised her gaze to see her darkness sitting at the edge of the station, legs crossed before her, gazing off to the void. Her bare skin seemed pale - moreso than normal - against the void she was so close to. "So many friends that care for you. That _you_ care for. Not everyone is that fortunate."

Yes, the shadow was being annoying and provocative, but Kairi couldn't help but try to raise her spirits. "Don't be like that," she insisted. "You're _me_. They're your friends, too."

A scoff emerged from the shadow's lips, but it fell to a sigh before long. "You really are pure," she murmured, glancing over her shoulder. "I'm _your darkness._ Why do you care what I feel? Why are you trying to comfort me?"

"I'm in a comforting mood," Kairi replied. "Blame it on the fact that Sora told me that four days ago I was a ghoul for six minutes. Didn't realize I could go that long without a dream."

"This isn't a dream," the darkness reprimanded, turning back to face the void. Then that statement hit her proper. "Wait, four days?" She turned her whole upper body to face her. "What are you talking about? When I was talking about your friends seeing you covered in blood, I meant that the ghoul had _just_ been locked in!"

Kairi's eyes widened. "Sora just said I've been out for four days! You mean this conversation has been going on for _ninety-six hours__?_"

"Time flows differently within the heart," the shadow mused. "I just had no idea the ratio was _that_ drastic." She shook her head, turning away again. "Anyways, how did things go with the door?"

"Sora and some sorcerer named Shinra managed to link to me," she replied. "I'm bound in holy chains. The seal is fragile - that's why I've been out. Shinra said he should be able to bring me to the waking world when they know what to do. I'll have ninety-six hours to the nanosecond to help out. Hopefully we can close up the seal again."

The darkness bowed her head for a moment.

Then she got to her feet and held out her hand, revealing her flower between her fingers. Kairi glanced at her own hand to find that she did in fact have her flower with her - but that was all she had time to notice before the shadow took a single step out to the void.

It connected with a rectangle of stained glass, multiple colours fragmented together.

One that was most certainly _not_ there before.

As Kairi watched, her darkness continued to walk away, each step forming another platform below her feet, just a little higher than the last - she was forming a staircase from the station into the void.

"If you're interested," she called without turning, "you're free to follow me."

Kairi hesitated... but after a moment, she chose to follow.

+x+x+x+

The stairs seemed to go on forever, but she didn't seem to get tired. Her darkness had gone too far to see - you'd think skin that pale would be easy to see in the black void, but the shadow had vanished. The stained glass steps were not a straight path - they turned in multiple directions, no rhyme or reason - and they vanished as Kairi left each one, going on and on until the previous station had vanished from sight.

Eventually, a surface loomed into view. It was a massive pillar of haous black - several stained glass towers arced up the sides, like windows from a castle. As she arrived, she found it was another circle of stained glass once again - this one a deep, shadowy purple.

As she stepped onto it, the last stair vanished behind her as she stepped forward onto the image.

It was a pair of angel's wings, shining white.

And a pair of demon's eyes, black as night.

"So you chose to come after all."

Kairi turned to see her darkness standing there, at the edge of the platform where she herself had stepped on. Her flower was in her hand, and as Kairi watched, the shadow closed her fingers around the island growth, forming her shadowy dagger.

"The awakening doesn't come until you've won or lost," she called. "Empower the darkness, or falter the light. What can you do with your edge - aside from point and click?"

The question caused Kairi to close her fingers around the feather, causing light to flare from it as it formed her massive sword.

"If I can't do anything with my edge, wouldn't that mean you can't do anything with yours?" she mused. "This is going to take another four days if we're just swinging wildly."

Her darkness sighed. "You're not _that_ bad with a blade," she retaliated.

Kairi smiled, holding her sword out to her side. "One round."

A nod from the shadow as she crossed her arms. "You're on, shine."

"En guarde!"

"Alez!"

The two rushed each other, Kairi bringing her blade over her helm and to her opposite side before swinging it forward to lock with the dagger in the hand of her darkness. Endless sparks of shadow and light flared across from their blades, scattering over the station until the two pulled away from each other. The length of Kairi's edge meant that it screamed across the shadow's dagger, the sparks chasing her until they landed far away enough that the contact was lost.

_Holy crap,_ Kairi realized, _that was one jump._

She tried again, leaping towards the shadow with an overhead blow. The darkness seemed to contemplate catching the strike before leaping to the side as the _base_ of Kairi's blade nearly cut her in half. She tried to stab at Kairi, but the blow missed as she dropped to the ground, rolled to her back, and lashed out with enough force to send the shadow spinning; then Kairi arced her sword into a rising uppercut, landing on her feet.

The blades were definitely stainedglass-friendly - otherwise the _whole bottom edge of the station_ would have been sheared off.

The strike was caught on the shadow's dagger, sending her flying into the air, but she only arced into a spin to build momentum as she began to fall. Kairi dropped low before leaping after her, and the two clashed a single blow halfway up Kairi's blade. The one became two, then three, then five as the two rose, higher and higher, until the tip of Kairi's blade was half the blade again from the station.

And she knew; for the darkness caught the strike perpendicular on her dagger, and when Kairi forced it down the blade, she slammed into the station with enough force to knock her back into the air.

Then Kairi arced into a flip as she began to fall, raising her blade over her head as she flew down with a wordless battle scream.

The sword passed through her darkness in a motion that should have cut her in half.

For a moment, all was deafeningly silent as Kairi connected with the station and swept her blade to one side. Slowly, her darkness fell towards the stained glass again, a searing red line arcing across her body from one side of her neck, right down to her thigh, and as she settled on the platform both blades vanished.

The shadow's image - which had already been flickering in and out of existence in patches - now began to fade completely as she raised her gaze to Kairi.

"Well done, whiteheart."

Then she faded completely - and from where she had been emerged a _wave_ of necrous darkness. Kairi got to her feet, stepping back as the flower in her hand fell to petals, and she could little more than glance at her hand and back before the wave of darkness flooded across her. The black-dove dress was washed away from her body, feather by feather, until she was as skyclad as her darkness had been - and though she tried to fight the flood of shadow, she stood no chance.

She closed her eyes as the flood wrapped her completely.

+x+x+x+

Kairi opened her eyes.

Sora was watching upside-down from over her, a smile on his face.

"Morning, Kairi."

* * *

Draco: Don't even say it. Don't even think about it. In fact, don't even _think_ about thinking about it. You post a normal review, and if you have a problem with it you can bring it up when I reply to your review. Get it? Got it? Good.


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